Part 29 (1/2)
Quentin set his gla.s.s on the table. ”I'll go with you. If you see Maggie, Carolyn -”
”I'll explain it to her,” she promised.
”He's up in that room again,” Willie told them. ”What's goin' on, Julia?” ”What do you mean?”56.
”Barnabas, well, he wasn't the same as when he left.”
”Angelique's back.”
”What? But - she's dead.”
”We'll explain later, Willie. Right now, we have to talk to Barnabas.”
He was standing in the bedroom, staring up at the portrait of Angelique. Julia still regretted going to get that painting for him, letting him turn this room into a shrine. ”Barnabas,” she said softly.
His eyes never left the painted blue ones. ”I never thought to see her again. I saw her die. I held her in my arms as she took her last breath. When she walked into the Blue Whale tonight, I thought she was a ghost. But it was her.”
They briefly told him Miranda's story. ”I'm going to get in touch with Dr. du Bois,” Julia told him. ”And I'll also talk to Miranda.”
”How ironic that she is using that name,” Barnabas said quietly. ”Perhaps it means a new beginning for us.”
”Whatever it means, Barnabas, until she remembers, you must treat her as Miranda du Bois, a stranger. She must remember on her own.”
”I understand.”
”Are you going to let Julia start searching for a cure again?”
”She tried for six months with no success.”
”What harm will it do for me to keep trying, Barnabas? Especially now. Unless you plan to turn her into what you are.”
She almost regretted her words and apologized when he stiffened. ”You can begin tomorrow evening,” he told her. ”Now, if you're finished -”
”See you tomorrow, Cousin.” ”I want to talk to you alone, quentin.”
”Sure.” He leaned back against the doorframe as Julia started out.
”I'll tell Willie what's happened while I'm downstairs,” she said, glancing once more at Barnabas before leaving. ”Well, Cousin?”
”You warned me once about Maggie -I'm warning you about Angelique: Stay away from her.”
”And if I don't?”
”Don't push me, Quentin.”
Quentin shrugged. ”I was just trying to be friendly to a new arrival.”
”Indeed?”