Epilogue
The wind was fierce as it rolled in from the mountains. The
priest could scarcely read from the Holy Book in such a gust, and though
there was no snow yet, the air was bitingly cold. The ground had been
frozen solid for weeks, and it had taken the gravediggers four whole days
to dig the single grave. The entire town had turned out for the ceremony
out of duty, and the wind only heightened the tension in the air.
Gabrielle paid little attention to the low comments of those around her or
to the hesitant words of the priest as the ceremony, the second of its
kind within the year, came to an end. She was only present out of duty,
the same as everyone else attendant. She watched the coffin lowered into
the ground so near another fresh grave, Jean Luc and the Marquis. Though
it was inappropriate, she couldn’t help but smile a little at the irony.
The Marquis was now closest to the son that most resembled him. In her
opinion they deserved each other. Side by side throughout eternity.
When the ceremony came to an end she didn’t bother to toss in any
flowers for either grave. She wasn’t the sort of woman to lower herself to
pretense. Everyone in the village knew she would not mourn long for her
husband. She simply turned from the graves and walked back to her carriage
and toward the shadowy figure waiting inside. He didn’t bother to open the
door for her and she didn’t expect him to do such a thing. She settled
herself comfortably and gave the signal for her driver, a man
well-accustomed to the eccentricities of the Marquise, to set the horses
in motion. She and her companion sat in silence for a while until he broke
the stalemate. “What will you do now? All has been left to Augustin and
his idiot wife. There’s nothing for you here.”
She nodded. There was no need to speak. He knew her answer. They’d
been thinking of the same solution for over a year now with few words
spoken on the subject. They understood each other.
He nodded in return. “You are such a strange woman, Gabrielle.” A
pause, and then, “You know I would never be like your dead husband.”
“I know.”
“I took care of Lestat. He is with the man he loves now, forever
happy if they can learn to manage each other’s faults. He won’t have to
remain trapped in this hovel for the rest of his life, free instead to
pursue his own ends. Does this please you?”
“You know it does.”
The carriage moved on in silence for a while again until the
dark-haired man broke it once more. Despite his best efforts, his voice
had taken on a pleading quality that the Marquise found most amusing from
such a powerful creature. “Why don’t we go now? There’s nothing you really
want at Lioncourt Castle anyway. Come with me.”
Gabrielle stared out the window at the countryside and the cold.
She could feel the old familiar ache in her joints and the itching at the
back of her throat a temptation to begin a fresh coughing fit. Last time
that had happened, there was blood. She smiled at the memory when she
realized such mortal concerns would not plague her for much longer. She
turned to her companion with fire in her eyes, “Yes, Santino. Let us go
now.”
~ Fin
