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saw the door had been moved.

I tried to call. I thought I had shouted. but I'm

sure it was barely louder than a whisper. Finally, after

what must have been another hour or so, she came

into the room. She was no longer in her business suit,

but what I saw now was so weird. I thought I was

surely still locked in a dream.

Aunt Victoria seemed to float past me. She was

wearing only a thin negligee.

She was very slender and I could see her ribs

outlined under the skin. She turned and raised her

arms, holding them frozen in the air for a moment

before dropping them to turn herself again in a strange

dance. The smile on her face was so different. It

looked more like a little girl's smile of joy.

She paused and looked at me as if she was

pleased.

"Oh. Megan. I'm so excited. I couldn't wait to

come in to tell you. Daddy loves me," she said.

"Daddy loves me more than he loves you."

She did a little spin again and drew closer to

me. My eyes felt locked, unable to turn an iota to the

right or to the left. Her face was mesmerizing. When

she spoke, she spoke in a little girl's voice.

"Daddy carried me up to bed. I had just finished

my cup of hot milk and he said I should go to sleep

now. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay up longer, but

he said I had to go to sleep or Mother would be angry.

She had left it up to him to take care of us tonight

while she was at her charity ball meeting and he had