<link href="css/hmh.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <meta content="urn:uuid:b46c9d28-76e0-40f5-8e9e-f6f42a43d3fd" name="Adept.expected.resource"/> </head> <body> <h1 class="chaptertitle">Stirring</h1> <p class="left"><span style="font-size: smaller">AS A REWARD</span> for their bravery and cunning, Mother gives the small children delicious bits of the princess's body. They are eaten with enormous appetite.<a id="p33"/> </p> <p class="follow">The brothers and sisters, prickling with crumbs, are allowed to tumble, glutted, into Madeleine's bed. They nuzzle against her and sigh, tucked into the warm pockets of her body. Madeleine stirs in her sleep. She smiles. Mother watches her and wonders, Is she amused by what she dreams?</p> </body> </html>