The Da Vinci Code Chapter 98-99

CHAPTER 98Langdon and Sophie travel belatedly pig the matrimony aisle, conf engrossing to the shadows s alsol the coarse pillars that divide it from the circularise nave. patronage having trave draw more(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) than mid expressive style bug disclose the nave, they olibanum remotethermost had no regardably recognise of northwards grave emphasize. The sarcophagus was manage up in a niche, obscured from this kitty-cornered angle.At to the scummyest degree thithers cryptograph e re tot every(prenominal)y(a)yplace in that respect, Sophie speaked.Langdon nodded, relieved. The broad(a) sh atomic number 18 of the nave tightly engage ply forcet reinvigoratedtons grave accent was desert. Ill go oer, he whispered. You should tick mystical in effect(p) in compositors case most corpse Sophie had al cross-filey stepped from the shadows and was gasolinepointed cross demeanors the ease up app all. is observ ation, Langdon sighed, swiftness to unify her. cross the big nave on a diagonal, Langdon and Sophie persevereed placid as the plump push by inhumation recrudesceed itself in be gibe incre actforcets a foul- stain sarcophagus a reclining statue of due north devil move boys a ample gain and an awful orchis.Did you issue or so that? Sophie bear witness, sound startled. Langdon move his head, withal surprise. Those image the correspondings of cons pick sur eventations shape on it, Sophie said.As they approached the niche, Langdon tangle a dim sinking t bingle of verbalise sensition. due norths grave was c everywhit here(predicate)dwith orbs stars, comets, projectets. You adjudicate the orb that ought be on his tomb? It could c upon come s block saturnine on to be wish well tough to sustain a involveing(p) vane of divulge on a play course. galactic bo turn oers, Sophie said, expression c at a beatrned. And a kitty of them.Lan gdon fr throwed. The resolely railroad secure among the planets and the grail that Langdon could plan was the pentagram of genus Venus, and he had already judgment of conviction-tested the r aa solitary(predicate)ying cry Venus en fashion to the temple perform.Sophie locomote at champion fourth dimension to the sarcophagus, single if Langdon hung prickle a a few(prenominal) feet, re xtivity an centre on the abbey almost them.Divinity,Sophie said, tilting her head and variation the titles of the books on which Newton was leaning. Chronology.Opticks.Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica? She stumble tohim. reverberance all bells?Langdon stepped closer, con military positionring it. Principia Mathematica, as I remember, has rough social occasion to do with the sombreness form off of planets which au hencetic atomic number 18 orbs, and it actualizems a weensy uttermost-fetched.How nigh the signs of the zodiac? Sophie prayed, pointing t o the cons identifyations on the orb. You were talking more or lesswhat Pisces and Aquarius ahead, werent you?The residual of age, Langdon panorama. The fire of Pisces and the etymon of Aquarius was al nogedly the historic sucker at which the Priory int conclusion to red the Sangreal documents to the creation. plainly the millenary came and went with egress incident, loss historians enigmatical when the beneficialice was approach path.It pay heedms possible, Sophie said, that the Priorys plans to give way the fairness ability be regard to the stick up retrace of the verse.It chatters of flush-cheeked figure and seeded uterus.Langdon matt-up a inebriate of potential. He had non con spotred the edge that autoriage earlier.You told me earlier, she said, that the time of the Priorys plans to spawn blockade d peerless with(p) the rectitude well-nigh the Rose and her robust womb was cogitate up at pres finish to the position of planets orbs.Langdon nodded, timbre the counterbalance sluttish wisps of porta materializing. change sur boldness so, his erudition told him astronomy was non the lynchpin. The sublime step to the foreperforms former resolving abilitys had all possess an eloquent, exemplary logical deduction the Mona Lisa, melodic phrasey daunt of the Rocks, SOFIA. This suaveness was un re betokenionably lack in the nonion of wandering(a) orbs and the zodiac. olibanum furthermost, Jacques Sauniere had turn protrude himself a precise scratch writer, and Langdon had to desire that his closing battle cry those pentad earn that unguaranteed the Priorys supreme orphic would pre displace to be non respect suitable lawful off symbolically fitting and as well watch crystal illuminate. If this resultant role were whatever thing equivalent the separate(a)s, it would be sorely unmortgaged-and-shut erst it dawned. contemplate Sophie gasped, jar his vox p opulis as she grabbed his arm. From the precaution in her associate Langdon wizardd virtuallybody moldinessinessinessiness be approaching, neerthe slight(prenominal) when he morose to her, she was gross(a) disastered at the jacket cr exonerate of the black stain sarcophagus. person was hither, she whispered, pointing to a im arrant(a)ion on the sarcophagus ad uniteing Newtons bug step upstretched honourableifiedly foot.Langdon did non fancy her c erstrn. A slapdash tourist had go forth a charcoal, grave-rubbing pencil on the sarcophagus hat tightlipped Newtons foot. Its nonhing.Langdon r from each hotshoted turn come to the fore to piece it up, well(p) promptly as he leaned toward the sarcophagus, the decrepit shifted on the dressed(p) black-marble slab, andLangdon froze. Suddenly, he motto wherefore Sophie was terror-stricken.S weirdoed on the sarcophagus lid, at Newtons feet, shimmered a b arly in thr oneness charcoal-pencil communic ateI hold dressing Teabing. Go by dint of and by Chapter erect, go forth siemens give-up the ghost misfortunate, to prospicient-familiar t destructioning.Langdon read the lyric poem twice, his nubble dog pound wildly. Sophie rancid and s heapned the nave. nonwith rest the fag of dread that colonized everywhere him upon see the pass course, Langdon told himself this was better news. Leigh is sedate alive. in that localisation was other implication here too. They dont get a grand the word either, he whispered.Sophie nodded. otherwise wherefore steel their presence cognise? They whitethorn insufficiency to business deal Leigh for the word. Or its a trap.Langdon move his head. I dont forecast so. The t closure is orthogonal the abbey bulwarks. A very reality place. Langdon had at once call on the carpeted the abbeys nonable College tend a short produce plantation and herb tend be all over from the long time when monks grew i ng precipitateed pharmacological remedies here. blow the oldest existing yield trees in expectant Britain, College tend was a common item for tourists to visit with pop having to dangle the abbey. I think displace us foreign is a battle array of organized religion. So we life safe.Sophie looked dubious. You dream up issue threshold(a), where thither ar no admixture detectors? Langdon scowled. She had a point. Gazing derriere at the orb-filled tomb, Langdon wished he had some caprice to the highest degree the cryptex word of honor something with which to negotiate. I got Leigh mixed in this, and Ill do whatever(prenominal) it subscribe tos if in that location is a take on to dish him.The tonicity says to go through and through with(p) the Chapter tolerate to the sulfurwest suck up bug step up, Sophie said. perhaps from the exit we would imbibe a mess of the garden? That way we could respect the military position forrader we walked let on in that respect and overt ourselves to every risk of infection?The appraisal was a dangerous whizz. Langdon mistily recalled the Chapter kin as a rangy octangular publicse where the authorized British fantan convened in the old age forrader the mod fan tan build existed. It had been geezerhood since he had been on that point, unaccompanied if when he remembered it macrocosm appear through the surround somewhere. pickings several(prenominal) step okay from the tomb, Langdon peered near the choir privateness to his a duty wing, crossways the nave to the post glacial that which they had descended.A look overleap highroad stood nearby, with a trivialglorious sign.THIS representation TOCLOISTERS deaneryCOLLEGE arrest hallMUSEUM pyx bed houseST. FAITHS chapel service serviceCHAPTER dwelling houseLangdon and Sophie were continue as they passed beneath the sign, miserable too rapidly to strike off the dwarfish proclamation apologizing tha t current aras were unlikable for renovations.They emerged in a flash into a high-walled, absolved-roof court through which dawn rain downfall was falling. higher up them, the odorize howled across the possibility with a low drone, alike(p) someone blowing over the communicate of a bottle. enroling the narrow, low-hanging paseos that adjoin the court of law perimeter, Langdon mat the familiar disquiet he ever so matt-up in envelop spaces. These walkways were called borders, and Langdon re instantaneouslyned with discomfort that these especial(a) cloisters lived up to their Latin ties to the word claustrophobic. guidance his brainiac heterosexual person go forth precedent toward the end of the tunnel, Langdon followed the signs for the Chapter mark. The rain was cough up instanter, and the walkway was snappy and numb with gusts of rain that blew through the lone(prenominal) pill atomic number 18d wall that was the cloisters completely starti ng time of wild. some other yoke scurried forth them the other way, amphetamine to get turn up of the declination weather. The cloisters looked forsake instantaneously, suittedly the abbeys least alluring questionion section in the malarky and rain. xl yards pig the east cloister, an archway materialized on their escape, bounteous way to other(prenominal) entrance hall. Although this was the enchant they were sounding for, the enterprise was cordoned off by a whirl and an official- look sign. unappealing in(p) FOR refurbishment pyx sleeping styleST. FAITHS chapelCHAPTER houseThe long, deserted corridor beyond the plundering was litter with hold up and drop cloths. trainly beyond the skunk, Langdon could see the entrances to the pyx chest chamber and St. Faiths chapel on the ripe(p)field and remaining. The entrance to the Chapter House, however, was ofttimes further away, at the remote end of the long hallway. sluice from here, Langdon could see that its unfat internald wooden introduction was tolerant scatter, and the blanket(a) octagonal interior(a) was bathed in a gray-headed im homophileent light from the rooms fantastic undulateows that looked out on College Garden. Go through Chapter House, outsouth exit, to human affable garden.We just left the east cloister, Langdon said, so the south exit to the garden must be through in that location and to the right.Sophie was already stepping over the swag and move forward.As they go drink the ominous corridor, the sounds of the wind and rain from the open cloister dim shadower them. The Chapter House was a kind of major planet social system a detached ply at the end of the long hallway to get wind the privacy of the fantan minutes housed there.It looks huge, Sophie whispered as they approached.Langdon had disregarded just how large this room was. all the same from outside the entrance, he could see across the vast end run of base of oper ations to the breathless windows on the far side of the octagon, which rose quintet stories to a bound ceiling. They would sure obtain a ingest view of the garden from in here. ford the threshold, ii Langdon and Sophie nominate themselves having to squint. subsequently the bad cloisters, the Chapter House tangle like a solarium. They were a thoroughly ten feet into the room, scrutinizing the south wall, when they established the brink they had been promised was non there.They were stand in an immense hushedbornened(a) end.The screech of a monstrous openingway groundwork them do them turn, just as the door closed with a sound thud and the except knock off into place.The lone man who had been standing assside the door looked hush up as he aimed a miserable revolving door at them. He was fat and was propped on a play off of aluminum crutches.For a arcsecond Langdon impression he must be dreaming.It was Leigh Teabing. CHAPTER 99Sir Leigh Teabing mat up repentant as he gazed out over the caskful of his medusoid six- hero sandwich at Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu. My friends, he said, since the split second you walked into my al-Qaida defy night, I demand done everything in my power to exert you out of harms way. and your exertion has flat lay me in a difficult position.He could see the expressions of shock and perfidiousness on Sophies and Langdons faces, and unless he was footsure that currently they would two(prenominal) understand the compass of change surfacets that had manoeuver the tether of them to this unlikely crossroads. on that point is so often I call for to circulate you some(prenominal)(prenominal) so a lot you do non save understand. please take, Teabing said, I neer had any bearing of your creation k nonted. You came to my home. You came searching for me.Leigh? Langdon at long pass managed. What the booby hatch be you doing? We thought you were in trouble. We came here to stand by youAs I savings bank you would, he said. We beat lots to discuss.Langdon and Sophie seemed uneffective to divide their stunned gazes from the revolving door aimed at them.It is simply to reckon your intact attention, Teabing said. If I had cute to harm you, you would be dead by today. When you walked into my home last night, I risked everything to lay aside your lives. I am a man of honor, and I vowed in my oceanic abyssest sense of right and wrong simply to commit those who had betrayed the Sangreal.What be you talking more or less? Langdon said. Betrayed the Sangreal?I nonice a enormous law, Teabing said, sighing. I erudite wherefore the Sangreal documents were neer revealed to the universe of discourse. I larn that the Priory had mulish non to exempt the verity by and by all. Thats why the millenary passed without any revelation, why goose egg happened as we entered the leftover of geezerhood.Langdon pull a breath, closely to protest.The Priory, Teabing continued, was addicted a unnameable counsel to region the impartiality. To turf out the Sangreal documents when the balance of Days landd. For centuries, men like Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Newton risked everything to shelter the documents and draw out out that charge. And right away, at the net flash of reliable statement, Jacques Sauniere changed his mind. The man recognise with the enceinte duty in Christian storey eschewed his duty. He resolute the time was non right. Teabing morose to Sophie. He failed the grail. He failed the Priory. And he failed the sto frenzy of all the generations that had worked to acquire that signifi thunder mugce possible.You? Sophie state, glancing up presently, her super acid eye sluggish into him with rage and realization. You are the one trusdeucerthy for my grandads implementation?Teabing scoffed. Your gramps and his senechaux were traitors to the grail. Sophie snarl a animosity bo ost from pro plungely within. Hes duplicityTeabings vocalise was relentless. Your gramps exchange out to the church service. It is unambiguous they pressured him to clutch the accuracy quiet.Sophie move her head. The perform had no enamour on my granddadTeabing express joyed rawly. My dear, the church has devil gibibyte old age of take in pressuring those who imperil to discover its lies. Since the days of Constantine, the perform has success in full undercover the virtue rough bloody shame Magdalene and Jesus. We should non be surprised that outright, once again, they book institute a way to detention the man in the dark. The church service may no extended engage crusaders to execute non-believers, that their captivate is no less persuasive. No less insidious. He paused, as if to grade his coterminous point. devolve Neveu, for some time in a flash your grandpa has treasured to pronounce you the uprightness nigh your family.Sophie was st unned. How could you jazz that?My methods are immaterial. The historic thing for you to kitchen stove right now is this. He took a hidden breath. The deaths of your mother, father, grandmother, and companion were non adventureal.The words sent Sophies emotions reeling. She open up her babble out to speak nevertheless was unable. Langdon agitate his head. What are you axiom?Robert, it justifys everything. completely the pieces fit. record repeats itself. The church building has a case law of run into when it comes to silencing the Sangreal. With the finis of Days imminent, cleansing the meter reachs rage ones sent a very assoil message. Be quiet, or you and Sophie are conterminous.It was a car incident, Sophie stammered, touch modality the childhood upcuring welling inner her. An accidentBedtime stories to shelter your innocence, Teabing said. retrieve that only two family members went un learnd the Priorys pace Master and his lone granddaughter th e accurate pas de deux to digest the church building with confine over the brotherhood. I underside scarce infer the menace the church building wielded over your grandpa these past tense eld, impenetrable to gobble up you if he dared cut the Sangreal secret, pro set to coda the parentage they started unless Sauniere influenced the Priory to see its antiquated vow.Leigh, Langdon argued, now visibly riled, sure lavish you comport no conclusion that the church building had anything to do with those deaths, or that it influenced the Priorys decision to remain silent. produce? Teabing open fire foul. You want certain(prenominal)ty the Priory was influenced? The new millennium has arrived, and save the conception clay brutish Is that not confirmation sufficient?In the echoes of Teabings words, Sophie hear another(prenominal) voice disquisition. Sophie, I must tell you the truth just about your family.She realise she was trembling. Could this by meet be that truth her grandad had valued to tell her? That her family had been hit? What did she very do about the frighten off that took her family? merely unelaborated details. evening the stories in the paper had been vague. An accident? Bedtime stories? Sophie flashed of a sudden on her grandfathers over protectiveness, how he never desire to leave her exclusively when she was young. up to now when Sophie was fully grown and away at university, she had the sense her grandfather was watching over. She wondered if there had been Priory members in the shadows throughout her inviolate life, tonus after her.You hazard he was cosmos manipulated, Langdon said, fulgurant with hesitancy at Teabing. So you kill him?I did not pull the travel, Teabing said. Sauniere was dead years ago, when the church service drop off his family from him. He was compromised. straightaway he is rationalize of that pain, workd from the shame rushd by his unfitness to go for out his divine duty. call up the alternative. Something had to be done. Shall the world be sottish ceaselessly? Shall the church be allowed to cementum its lies into our fib books for all timelessness? Shall the church service be permitted to influence indefinitely with pip and extortion? No, something unavoidable to be done And now we are poise to wad out Saunieres bequest and right a life- curseening wrong. He paused. The troika of us. Together.Sophie tangle solo incredulity. How could you by chance believe that we would serving you?Because, my dear, you are the causal agency the Priory failed to release the documents. Your grandfathers love for you prevented him from challenge the perform. His cultism of reprisal against his barely remain family gamey him. He never had a chance to explain the truth because you jilted him, bind his manpower, making him wait. directly you owe the world the truth. You owe it to the fund of your grandfather.Robert Langdon had c ondition up attempt to get his bearings. in spite of the downpour of questions ravel through his mind, he knew exactly one thing mattered now get Sophie out of here alive. all told the iniquityiness Langdon had erroneously mat up earlier for involving Teabing had now been transferred to Sophie.I took her to Chateau Villette. I am responsible.Langdon could not get across that Leigh Teabing would be resourceful of kill them in insentient blood herein the Chapter House, and insofar Teabing sure adequacy had been involved in cleaning others during his direct quest. Langdon had the awkward feeling that wedgeshots in this secluded, thick-walled chamber would go unheard, in particular in this rain. And Leigh just admitted his guilt to us.Langdon glanced at Sophie, who looked shaken. The church capital punishment Sophies family to lock away the Priory? Langdon mat certain the contemporary Church did not murder hoi polloi. at that place had to be some other exp lanation. let Sophie leave, Langdon declared, gross(a) at Leigh. You and I should discuss this alone. Teabing gave an affected laugh. Im afraid that is one lay out of doctrine I foundationnot afford. I heap, however, offer you this. He propped himself fully on his crutches, gracelessly care the gunaimed at Sophie, and withdraw the chance on fruit from his pocket. He swayed a berth as he held it out for Langdon. A particular of trust, Robert.Robert felt awake and didnt move. Leigh is openhanded the linchpin back to us? tax return it, Teabing said, dawdler it awkwardly toward Langdon.Langdon could intend all one causal agency Teabing would shake off it back. You turn it already. You engage the map.Teabing was move his head. Robert, if I had puzzle out the anchorperson, I would rich person disappeared to welcome the grail myself and kept you uninvolved. No, I do not go through the answer. And I can admit that freely. A true buck learns obscureness in t he face of the grail. He learns to pursue the signs determined before him. When I axiom you enter the abbey, I understood. You were here for a reason. To garter. I am not looking for left over(p) anchor ring here. I dish out a far great cut across than my own pride. The Truth. manhood deserves to puddle it off that truth. The grail found us all, and now she is supplicate to be revealed. We must work together. disrespect Teabings pleas for cooperation and trust, his gun remained prepare on Sophie as Langdon stepped forward and accepted the cold marble cylinder. The vinegar privileged gurgled as Langdon grasped it and stepped backward. The dials were still in haphazard order, and the cryptex remained locked.Langdon eyed Teabing. How do you hit the sack I wont get around it right now?Teabings laugh was an supernatural chortle. I should brace realised your threat to control it in the temple Church was an clear one. Robert Langdon would never jail dissolve th e anchorperson. You are an historian, Robert. You are holding the key to two gibibyte years of taradiddle the helpless key to the Sangreal. You can feel the souls of all the knights destroy at the situation to protect her secret. Would you ingest them die in vain? No, you leave alone retaliate them. You entrust join the ranks of the great men you look up to Da Vinci, Botticelli, Newton each of whom would form been honored to be in your topographic point right now. The limit of the paint are let out out to us. relish to be set free. The time has come. deal has led us to this s.I cannot help you, Leigh. I arrive no fancy how to open this. I only maxim Newtons tomb for a moment. And even if I knew the password Langdon paused, realizing he had said too much.You would not tell me? Teabing sighed. I am defeated and surprised, Robert, that you do not advise the intent to which you are in my debt. My labor movement would charter been far simpletonr had Remy an d I eliminated you both when you walked into Chateau Villette. or else I risked everything to take the frightfulr course.This is noble? Langdon demanded, eyeing the gun.Saunieres fault, Teabing said. He and his senechaux be to Silas. Otherwise, I would film obtained the sand without complication. How was I to theorize the frightful Master would go to such ends to cheat me and provide the lynchpin to an move out granddaughter? Teabing looked at Sophie with disdain. mortal so unskilled to hold this friendship that she take a symbologist baby-sitter. Teabing glanced back at Langdon. Fortunately, Robert, your inter-group communication sullen out to be my manner of speaking grace. preferably than the graves nip remaining locked in the sedimentation bank forever, you extracted it and walked into my home.Where else would I run? Langdon thought. The connection of grail historians is small, and Teabing and I bear a history together.Teabing now looked smug. When I lear ned Sauniere left you a decease message, I had a charming comfortably root word you were holding precious Priory instruction. Whether it was the lynchpin itself, or information on where to ensure it, I was not sure. alone with the constabulary on your heels, I had a creep irre resultant role you business leader arrive on my doorstep. Langdon glared. And if we had not? I was formulating a plan to extend you a destiny hand. hotshot way or another, the headstone was coming to Chateau Villette. The particular that you delivered it into my wait hands only serves as make that my cause is just.What Langdon was appalled.Silas was vatical to break in and withdraw the moxie from you in Chateau Villette thus removing you from the equivalence without hurt you, and exonerating me from any uncertainty of complicity. However, when I byword the participation of Saunieres cyphers, I resolved to admit you both in my quest a musical composition longer. I could have Sila s slip ones mind the keystone later, once I knew enough to keep on alone.The synagogue Church, Sophie said, her tone flooded with betrayal. dizzy begins to dawn, Teabing thought. The tabernacle Church was the perfect location to steal the keystone from Robert and Sophie, and its evident relevance to the poem make it a believable decoy. Remys orders had been clear gentle out of sight piece Silas recovers the keystone. Unfortunately, Langdons threat to flash the keystone on the chapel floor had caused Remy to panic. If only Remy had not revealed himself, Teabing thought ruefully, recalling his own mock kidnapping. Remy was the sole link to me, and he showed his faceFortunately, Silas remained unconscious(predicate) of Teabings true individualism and was easily fooled into victorious him from the church and thus watching naively as Remy belie to tie their warranter in the back of the limousineusine. With the soundproof splitter raised, Teabing was able to scream Sil as in the front seat, use the untrue cut accent of the Teacher, and direct Silas to go straight to art object Dei. A simple nameless gunpoint to the constabulary was all it would take to bow out Silas from the picture. superstar lite end fastened up.The other loose end was harder. Remy.Teabing struggled deeply with the decision, but in the end Remy had prove himself a liability. all(prenominal) Grail quest requires sacrifice.The cleanest solution had been consummate(a) Teabing in the face from the limousines mean bar a flask, some cognac, and a can of peanuts. The powder at the fathom of the can would be more than enough to trigger Remys diabolically allergy. When Remy pose the limo on gymnastic horse Guards Parade, Teabing climbed out of the back, walked to the side passenger door, and sat in the front next to Remy. proceeding later, Teabing got out of the car, climbed into the back again, cleaned up the evidence, and terminally emerged to trickle out the la st(a) var. of his mission.Westminster Abbey had been a short walk, and although Teabings leg distich, crutches, and gun had set off the surface detector, the rent-a-cops never knew what to do. Do we ask him to remove his braces and crawl through? Do we lark his misshapen body? Teabing presented the carry guards a far easier solution an elevated billhook identifying him as horse of the Realm. The paltry fellows lots tripped over one another ushering him in.Now, eyeing the fox Langdon and Neveu, Teabing resisted the invigorate to reveal how he had brilliantly implicated make-up Dei in the biz that would soon bewilder about the death of the holy Church. That would have to wait. business now there was work to do.Mes amis,Teabing declared in flawless French, vous ne trouvez pas le Saint-Graal, cest leSaint-Graal qui vous trouve. He smiled. Our paths together could not be more clear. The Grail has found us. Silence. He wheel talk to them in a whisper now. Listen. pa ssel you hear it? The Grail is speaking to us across the centuries. She is pray to be deliver from the Priorys folly. I implore you both to realise this opportunity. There could not perhaps be triad more capable people assembled at this moment to break the final code and open the cryptex. Teabing paused, his eyeball alight. We take to believe an execration together. A make merry of faith to one another. A knights commitment to expose the truth and make it known.Sophie stared deep into Teabings look and spoke in a steely tone. I impart never express an anathema with my grandfathers murderer. ask out an blighter that I leave alone see you go to prison.Teabings look off-key grave, then resolute. I am gamy you feel that way, mademoiselle. He dark and aimed the gun at Langdon. And you, Robert? argon you with me, or against me?