Jane Wagoner

The kiss, begun in sorrow, ignited into passion, a passion born of desperation and loss, wild and unstoppable. There was one point where Katherine had a clear thought, "if there is a child, we can marry," but otherwise the couple acted on instinct, reckless, pagan, instinct. They came together desperately, without nuance or soft caress. But Katherine, still virgin, was no stranger to orgasm, and responded wildly to Christoph's thrusts. Grinning down at her, Christoph clapped his hand over her lips just as she, eyes widening, began to scream.

Coming out of a rosy fog, sorrow just beginning to replace rapture, they were terrified by a menacing roar. Heinrich Grimm stood at the edge of the glen, staring at their naked, entwined bodies.

Over the years Heinrich Grimm had held fast to his vision of Katherine the angel, despite numerous reasons to believe she was just a village girl, prettier than usual, but no more virtuous. The epitome of innocence in his mind, she was the keystone of his moral equilibrium. He was a flawed being, and without the example of the purity of heart he perceived in Katherine, his instincts would have led him to lie and cheat without conscience.