Serpent & Dove

Lou takes Reid to the theater’s rooftop and urges him to appreciate the view—the starry sky that she likes to believe God painted for her. He’s surprised by this spiritual reference. She points out that her god is different than his god, who doesn’t respect women. Reid explains that he never saw Lou as his property and states that the Archbishop is wrong on this point. Lou pounces on his deviation from the Archbishop’s teachings, but Reid protests that the Archbishop has given him both a purpose and Lou. Lou notes that whatever god is out there brought her to Reid; it was not the Archbishop’s doing.

Reid presents Lou with a wedding ring made of mother-of-pearl. He tells Lou his mother left it with him. Lou loves it—and him, a fact that takes her by surprise. Reid vows, “Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay” (339). She now knows she wants him completely and asks him to touch her. Since Reid is a virgin, she guides him in their sexual encounter on the rooftop. Lou feels defenseless but also safe.

Reid spends the night with Lou at Soleil et Lune. They eat at Pan’s the next morning, and she feels she has found a new home in Reid. Suddenly, Hélène approaches. Hélène seems startled by the wedding ring Reid has given Lou and asks if he is kind and good. Lou pieces together Hélène’s reaction to the ring with the resemblance between her and Reid—they have the same shade of blue eyes, and Reid has coppery-colored hair—and realizes that Hélène is Reid’s mother. She affirms his good qualities. Hélène asks if Reid knows the true Lou, showing she’s aware Lou is a witch. As Lou and Reid move away, Hélène grabs Lou’s hand and warns her Morgane is in the city. Lou realizes that Hélène is a Dame Blanche.

Terrified, Lou is eager to return to the cathedral. As she and Reid approach the church, a beggar comes from the alleyway. It is Monsieur Bernard, who seems possessed. He lunges at Lou, speaking her mother’s words: “I’m coming for you, darling” (358). Reid kills Monsieur Bernard, ending the possession. Lou apologizes to the real Bernard, who shapeshifts into an average old man as he dies. Ye Old Sisters are gathering outside the cathedral for that evening’s performance. Shaken by Monsieur Bernard’s words, Reid asks Lou if she’s hiding something from him. He wants to know if her mother is coming for her, and she nods. She’s about to tell him she’s a witch when the Archbishop intrudes: Several women have gathered around the king’s castle, and the Chasseurs must be dispatched. Reid is going to send for Ansel, but the Archbishop volunteers to guard Lou, saying he has an urgent matter to discuss with her.

After Reid leaves, the Archbishop turns on Lou, telling her she has deceived Reid. He says he almost believed she loved Reid, but now he knows for certain she is really a “serpent.” The Archbishop’s aggression confuses and frightens Lou. She’s grateful when a page interrupts to tell them the play is about to begin. The troupe is camped on the cathedral steps and the performers are women, ranging from maidens to crones. The Archbishop is horrified since he considers acting a disreputable profession. The narrator, a young girl, announces that they are going to tell the story of an Archbishop. The play mirrors the Archbishop’s own life, and he turns pale. Lou senses something is wrong as the Archbishop forbids her to leave his side. Reid and the other Chasseurs arrive just as the play reveals that a beautiful witch, disguised as an ordinary woman, seduced the Archbishop and then gave birth to his child. Lou realizes the narrator is Morgane in disguise and that her father is the Archbishop, the man standing next to her.