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"I understand," she said.

Edmond looked down at Howard.

"Come with me immediately," he ordered. Steven was already up and to the door. He couldn't get away fast enough. Howard glanced back at us.

"They're just going to tell you a bunch of lies about me," he threw back and walked out.

Edmond closed the door.

The silence was heavy. Everyone looked like she was holding her breath.

"It seems so very, very long ago," she began. "when I was as young as you all are now. I was one of those people who are described as having the theater in her blood. I suppose. I was putting on shows for my own parents when I was barely old enough to speak," she said, smiling at the memories.

"For me, there was never anything more exciting than an audience. I suppose it is no

exaggeration to say I was and still remain obsessed,"

Again she looked mostly at me.

"Marriage, a family, a loving husband, were never as important. I have often lectured you about dedication and I have even been hard on you to keep you determined. Maybe that's wrong. Maybe that's a certain sort of madness. I don't know. I just do what I think I must do to turn my rough-cut precious stones into jewels. I've had many successes.

"If you have all the research you claim you have, you know that I didn't get married until I was in my thirties, and reluctantly. My husband wanted a trophy more than a wife, and I wanted to rid myself of the nagging obligation to marry and have a family. I didn't want anything to hinder my career, even if it meant doing something I had half a heart for. My husband was sympathetic, cooperative. I should say, in the beginning. He tolerated my loving the theater far more than I would ever love him. But in time, he drifted into his world and left me to mine.

"We had Edmond because he demanded he have an heir and that was part of our bargain, and then. I had an affair with a leading man in a production I was in. and I became pregnant with Gerta. My husband found out and insisted I give birth to her despite this. He was more concerned about his reputation, and wanted the world to believe the child was his.

"I was a fool to believe he would not harbor any resentment about it, but his resentment. I thought, was tempered when we found out that Gerta had certain disabilities, and yet a remarkable ability to memorize facts, information she couldn't use. The plays you heard her quote, the parts, most of them I played and I think she was motivated to learn them because of that, but she has other facts stored in her mind that astound me.

"She was always a very sensitive child. She seemed unable to go beyond a certain age. although I have always hated the term retarded. I refuse to accept such a word for her. I have had some specialists tell me she is akin to an idiot savant. At times. as I suspect you have come to realize, she is truly amazing.

"Like any child, she longed to be loved and cherished and I'm afraid Marshall, my husband, took advantage of that. It had a devastating effect on Gerta and she, as you know, had to be institutionalized. I kept it all as quiet as I could. It reached a terrible climax when she attempted to commit suicide. Marshall was living in New York and I was in a production of Moliere's The Misanthrope in Paris I had to rush back to Switzerland.

"There were a number of rag newspaper reporters hot on the story. Someone I trusted very much came up with the idea to pretend Gerta was indeed gone. Our hope was she would never be pursued or abused again."

She paused to take a breath. None of us dared.

"Perhaps it was my anger, my utter disgust, but I let Marshall believe the story about Gerta's death was true. I even had a quick funeral before he could return, and there is actually a grave with a tombstone that bears her name. One of my greatest performances occurred at that gravesite," she added, with a look on her face that suggested to me she was proud of it. "Especially when I stood there with Marshall. I enjoyed his suffering."

She was silent a moment, and then, after a deep breath, continued.

"Marshall, as you already know from that article, took his own life soon afterward. I have my moments of regret, but they are short-lived. Some people can't live with the evil in themselves and what they do is what they need to do. So it was with my husband.

"I brought Gerta back, hoping to give her some comfort. The rest you now know."

"But it seems very cruel to keep her locked up like that," I said.

"And Ms. Fairchild is not exactly a warm companion for her," Cinnamon added bitterly.

"She does what she thinks I want her to do."

"Chop off her hair and threaten to do it again and again!" Ice snapped.

Madame Senetsky widened her eyes, "Gerta did that to herself."

"No, she didn't, Madame. We were upstairs in Gerta's bedroom when Ms. Fairchild threatened her."

She stared at us and then nodded softly, following that with a deep sigh.

"Laura can be overly exuberant when she is asked to carry out an order. I suppose."