“Didn’t you hear that?” Thomas said, the tightness in his chest strangling his voice. XXX Once or twice Thomas thought he heard singing from some distant part of the house, but every time he stopped to listen it faded away. “A dream,” he said again, sitting on the edge of the bed. His heart pounded until he feared it would pop. The only thing different was another new painting, also of her, this one in miniature, set up on a bedside table, with flowers piled so high around it even in the middle of winter that they nearly buried the frame. One by one, row by row, the silent woman made her way to each grave. “If that’s wrong, then I’ll accept the judgment for it when my time comes. Aurelia lifted him up like he weighed no more than her veil, and when he was on his feet again she kissed his cheeks and his chin and his forehead and his lips a hundred times over,
