Clarimonde

On the day Romuald is to become a priest, he lifts his eyes—and a beautiful stranger’s gaze seems to pierce straight through him. As the ceremony goes on, he says “Yes” while his whole soul cries “No.”

Years later, the old priest tells of Easter week, when a sheltered seminarian entered the church expecting no life more wondrous than service to God. One glimpse of the woman in royal red velvet opens a world of desire he has never known, and Romuald feels his vows closing around him even as his heart strains toward her. He believes the force that has seized him may be more than human—and that his soul is at stake. What, exactly, has looked back at him from across the sanctuary?

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