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.""No, no, ma Fille,” Père Guibert said, extending a solicitous hand to her.“You must be deceived.There is danger here, as there is throughout the world.God warned us of that long ago.You need not succumb to it.God protects His own, those who live with grace.” He paused.“You have strayed from the flock, Seur Aungelique, and you have lost the way.What have you done to fall from grace, ma Fille? Tell me."She shook her head as he said this.“I have done nothing, mon Père.Nothing.It is not I who have done this.My suffering has been visited on me by the Devil, who delights in torturing me through the.ministrations of his servant.” She stared up at the ceiling, as if watching something there.“You know what I am, Père Guibert; you know how God made me.I am a woman of the flesh and of the senses, and for that I am not a good nun, for the world calls me and I cannot turn away from it without denying what I am, which is a great sin.I am carnal: that is as God wills, and as I wish to live.But I am here, and thus I am tormented by the desires of my body until God brings me to His love.If God should waken a vocation in my heart, I will not deny it.For now, I cannot be what I am wished to be.I have done the penance given me.” Her chin jutted at that."This is known to me, ma Fille.What of the demon you claim visits you? What is his nature and how does he offend you?” It was a foolish question and Seur Aungelique made it plain that she did not wish to be made light of."You have seen my body; you know what he does to me.” She breathed deeply once.“The Devil has come to me in the form of Thibault Col, Chevalier de Bruges.He is most personable, this young man, very fair and gallant.He has shown me some favor before and it has delighted me to be in his company.""Do you say this Chevalier is the Devil?” Père Guibert demanded, knowing how serious an accusation Seur Aungelique had made."I say that the Devil can assume any shape he wishes, and those that please us gain him an advantage.His demons are beautiful to see, so we are warned.” She crossed herself languidly.“Thus this Thibault comes to me, or the demon in his shape.At first he only courted me, paying me compliments and putting his hands on my breasts as he had done before.Then he came longer, and he demanded more."Père Guibert cleared his throat and ran his tongue around his dry mouth.“You must tell me what he did and what he said.You must say what you did."Seur Aungelique laughed softly.“You may be a priest, but you know what he did.At first he took my virginity, penetrating me to the vitals, or so it felt to me.He used me for his passion.""You did not rebuke him? You did not defend your maidenhead?” His voice cracked on the second question."I wanted him.I desired he touch me and fill me.When he was gone, I was in terror that he would not come again.Had I been able to conjure him from the moonbeams, I would have done so.""That is wrong of you, ma Fille.” He had to look at something other than her ravaged flesh.He was caught in the fascination of her lust and degradation in a way that he knew endangered his soul."Does that matter? God did not intend me for chastity.When Thibault came to me, he roused me as no prayer has done.He gave me pleasure in any way I told him I wanted.That was at first.” She yawned.“Later, he made demands of me, and they grew more exacting each time he came to me.Of late, nothing I do is enough for him, and he is more impatient with me.” Tears slid from her eyes and she wiped them away at once."Ma Fille, you are in the gravest danger,” Père Guibert said as he clasped his hands in prayer."He comes to me each night,” she crooned.“He feels all my flesh, and then he demands that I pleasure him however he wishes to be pleasured.He is too masterful for me to refuse him.He penetrates all my body, and if I am unwilling to accommodate him, then he bends me to his will with his body and his soul.His eyes burn at me.” She laughed again, this time with more spirit.“It is painful and hideous and he cares nothing for me.""Seur Aungelique!” Père Guibert expostulated, shocked in spite of himself."Oh, how I scream and how I fight, and how he overwhelms me.” She smiled at Père Guibert.“He is endowed like a bull, and there are times when I fear he will eviscerate me when he is within me.I feel him swell and surge and his hands are everywhere at once.He is insatiable, I think.I have never given him the satisfaction he has required of me.Even when I have abased myself completely.” Now her voice was soft, husky with feeling.“Have I confessed enough, mon Père? Or do you wish to hear more?""I.” He could feel his face burn for shame at what he had heard.“You are not repentant, it would seem.""Oh, yes.In the morning, always in the morning.But by the time midday has come, I know that night is on its way, and with it Thibault.Then I am satisfied with my lot.” This time her laughter howled at him, and he stepped back from her."You are damned, woman.You are vile!""He says so, as well,” Seur Aungelique murmured.“Perhaps he is not a demon, after all, since you agree."For this Père Guibert had no answer; his head rang with her words and they were repugnant to him.Crossing himself for protection, he fled.[Back to Table of Contents]Chapter TenPadre Bartolimieu listened to Père Guibert with somber attention.“And does this demon continue to.sport with her?” he asked when his fellow-priest was finished with his tale."So she claims.One of the other Sisters has also claimed that she has been visited by a creature of the night, a strange, dark creature that does things to her that she cannot describe for revulsion.She is a frail woman, and I fear that such predations will harm her more than she knows.""It will harm them all more than they know,” Padre Bartolimieu declared as he paced the garden.“It was wrong of me to run from the confrontation of evil.I see now that my failure is more total than ever I thought.It is not enough that I retire from the world, but I must aid those in need of guidance, who are in peril of their lives and souls.” He lowered his head
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