“She was. We started out as friends, talking about books and food and the like before things turned a little more serious. Most in the village viewed her as a spinster. She was thirty-six and rented a room in a boarding house near the school where she taught, and one night I was walking her home, and it started raining. The skies literally opened up, and by the time we reached the stoop, we were drenched. She was laughing. I was laughing and then…then we were kissing.

“Clara knew her inclination was toward women, yet before meeting me, she’d never run across another with the same train of thought, and for a split-second, I could sense her fear, and then it disappeared just as quickly. She was the only one who didn’t know I was a vampire prior to our affair starting, and we were lovers for nearly a year before I finally told her. She was angry. She was afraid. She was confused, and she was conflicted. She loved me, and she knew I loved her, but suddenly there was something else to contend with that…well, there’s really no way for anyone to prepare themselves for that bombshell.”

“What happened?”

“She broke it off with me and said she never wanted to see me again, and since I’ve never had stalker on my résumé, I did what she asked. I sequestered myself in my little home on the hill and ventured into town only when necessary. Three months later, she showed up at my house late in the evening. She told me she loved me and wanted to be with me, except we could never live under the same roof. Clara had no family to speak of, and back then, a woman moving to another area on her own was difficult, so we basically had a ten-year affair, ending when, like Odylia, Clara grew older, and I did not. She became self-conscious, so much so she wouldn’t allow me to kiss her or hold her anymore, not that I cared about that. I was in love with her, and I enjoyed her company. She was still Clara to me, but she didn’t believe me. She grew angrier as each day passed, and slowly but surely, our affair ended, as did our friendship.”

“Wow, you sure didn’t have a lot of luck with relationships.”

“You are correct,” Bennett said, a frown forming. “I’ve turned numerous mortals into vampires over the centuries, numerous ones, yet my failures always revolved around those who I loved.”

“That’s sad.”