A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, December 1949 — page 48: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

~ ‘It was not a kiss one could be indifferent _—~— to. ~“My arms held her, and it was as though I held flame sheathed in fair flesh. She thrust me from her with what was almost a blow, and so strongly that I stumbled back a step. She walked to the table and filled from _ an ewer two slender glasses with pale yellow wine. She said, with mockery: . “To our last parting, Alain. And to our reunion.” And as I hesitated at the toast: “Don’t be afraid—it is no witch’s = poison.” <== I touched her glass and drank. We sat, =< and at some signal I neither saw nor ae heard, two other of the oddly dressed : servants came in and served. They did it in the olden way, kneeling. The wines - were excellent, the dinner was superb. ~The Demoiselle ate and drank daintily. She spoke little, at times deep in thought, at times regarding me with the blend of : tenderness and malice. I have never dined = téte-d-téte with a pretty girl and had so little to say—or with one who was so silent. We were, in fact, like two op- ponents in some game upon which vital issues hung, studying our moves, study- Md $0) Uhr rd ine eu AY i: ing each other, before beginning it. What- e ever the game, I had the uncomfortable a feeling that the Demoiselle knew much aa more about it than I—had in all prob- =e ability made the rules. Ba: From the great room beyond the hidden Tae ‘ Ae door came muted music and singing. They were queer melodies, vaguely familiar. ES [It was as though the singers were in = = that room, and yet far, far away. They = were shadows of songs and music. Shad- <a ows of songs? Suddenly I thought of SB Dick’s description of the singing of the as shadow. A creep went down my spine. a I looked up from my plate to find Dahut’s — gaze upon me, amused, mockery in it. = I felt wholesome anger begin to stir in Ss me. The lurking fear of her vanished. = She was a beautiful woman, and danger-~ "So ous. That was all. But how dangerous = rested with me. I had no doubt she er = knew what I was thinking. She sum- 4 moned the servants and they cleared the a table, leaving the wine. She said, matter- 5 of-factly : =e “We'll go out on the terrace. Bring = es wine with you, Alain. You may need Ah | aes . : o : A. MERRITT’S FANTASY I laughed at that, but picked up a bottle and glasses and followed her through the — hangings into the room of rosy light. Like the other it was octagonal, but, unlike it, the top was that of a true tur- ret—that is, the ceiling did not run straight across. It lifted in a graceful cone. In fact, the two rooms made.a double tower, and I surmised that the walls were false, having been built into what had been one large chamber. In this they were hung with the same sea-green tap- estries but with no figures upon them. As I walked slowly in, their hues seemed . — to change and shift, darkening here into ocean depths, lightening there into the pale emerald of shallows, while constantly within them moved shadows; shadowy shapes that floated up from the depths, then loitered, then languidly sank beneath the range of sight. There was an ancient armoire, a table, two or three low stools, a curiously carven and painted chest, a couch. The rosy light streamed down from some cunningly hidden fixture in the turret’s roof. I felt again an uncomfortable sense of familiar- ity that had come to me when I had © looked upon the black pebble of the blace- — j let. A CASEMENT opened onto the ter- | race. [I set the wine upon the table and walked out upon the terrace, Dahut ~ . beside me. The tower was at the top of the building as I had thought, at its south- ‘ | , cu tz >] Be a) 5 ‘7 eo. -* , “a y a na te Od hl es ee Ee on ee ee east corner. At my right was the magical night panorama of New York. Far below, the East River was a belt of tarnished sil- ver studded with the diamonded bands of bridges. About twenty feet beneath was another terrace, plain to the view since the building was of the step-back kind. aa I said to the Demoiselle, jestingly : s “Ts this like your tower in ancient Ys, Dahut? And was it from a balcony such as this that your servants hurled your lovers?” The inexplicable anger was growing within me. She answered: “Tt was not so high. Nor were the nights in Ys like these. You looked up into the skies to see the stars instead of down upon the city. And my tower looked down upon the sea. Nor did I cast my | lovers from it, since in—death—they — oO Gomichbooks;com