"Yes, I know, Abegail," Kolester said, and he gave her that big, handsome, melting smile he was so well known for. "The elk in your paintings are what first attracted me to you.""My elk?" Abegail said with a little frown. "That's quite a compliment for a woman, you know.""Ah, your beauty needs no compliment, my dear," Kolester said smoothly. "It exists above description. There, in fact, is no description that could do justice to your beauty.""So, now you are mocking me," Abegail retorted, her eyes dancing, telling him both that she was in good humour and that he'd struck deeply with his arrow."It is the spirit of the elk that moves me. Have you not seen that in some of my writing?""Yes, I have. I've seen that you've used several beasts of the wild, like the elk, for your images of perfection.""Ah, yes, you do understand then. I see them as everything I must possess. That's why I want to hunt the elk—not for the sport of killing them, really, but for the need to possess them and
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