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"Can I help you?" she asked, half suffocated by the question.

"Perhaps there might be something I could do that would bring the

one you want to you."

It was the crucial point in the conversation. She held her breath

as she awaited his answer. She knew he was no adept at the

half-meanings and near-confessions of flirtation, and that she

could depend upon his words and actions to be genuine.

He looked at her calmly without the additional beat of a pulse.

His color had died down and left him pale. He was considering.

"You have done much for me," he said at last, "and I shall never

forget it, but in this matter even you could not help me. Only

the Almighty could do it by direct intervention, and I don't

believe He works that way in this century," Code smiled faintly.