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the tiny engraving on the east-facing side of the aluminum tip and realized to his amazement that the first ray

of sunlight to hit the nation’s capital, every single day, did so by illuminating two words:

Laus Deo.

“Robert,” Katherine whispered. “Nobody ever gets to come up here at sunrise. This is what Peter wanted us

to witness.”

Langdon could feel his pulse quickening as the glow atop the monument intensified.

“He said he believes this is why the forefathers built the monument so tall. I don’t know if that’s true, but I

do know this—there’s a very old law decreeing that nothing taller can be built in our capital city. Ever.”

The light inched farther down the capstone as the sun crept over the horizon behind them. As Langdon

watched, he could almost sense, all around him, the celestial spheres tracing their eternal orbits through the

void of space. He thought of the Great Architect of the Universe and how Peter had said specifically that the

treasure he wanted to show Langdon could be unveiled only by the Architect. Langdon had assumed this

meant Warren Bellamy. Wrong Architect.

As the rays of sunlight strengthened, the golden glow engulfed the entirety of the thirty-three-hundred-pound

capstone. The mind of man . . . receiving enlightenment. The light then began inching down the monument,

commencing the same descent it performed every morning. Heaven moving toward earth . . . God connecting

to man. This process, Langdon realized, would reverse come evening. The sun would dip in the west, and the

light would climb again from earth back to heaven . . . preparing for a new day.

Beside him, Katherine shivered and inched closer. Langdon put his arm around her. As the two of them stood

side by side in silence, Langdon thought about all he had learned tonight. He thought of Katherine’s belief

that everything was about to change. He thought of Peter’s faith that an age of enlightenment was imminent.

And he thought of the words of a great prophet who had boldly declared: Nothing is hidden that will not be

made known; nothing is secret that will not come to light.

As the sun rose over Washington, Langdon looked to the heavens, where the last of the nighttime stars were

fading out. He thought about science, about faith, about man. He thought about how every culture, in every

country, in every time, had always shared one thing. We all had the Creator. We used different names,

different faces, and different prayers, but God was the universal constant for man. God was the symbol we all

shared . . . the symbol of all the mysteries of life that we could not understand. The ancients had praised God

as a symbol of our limitless human potential, but that ancient symbol had been lost over time. Until now.

In that moment, standing atop the Capitol, with the warmth of the sun streaming down all around him, Robert

Langdon felt a powerful upwelling deep within himself. It was an emotion he had never felt this profoundly

in his entire life.

Hope.

ALSO BY DAN BROWN

Featuring Robert Langdon

THE DA VINCI CODE

ANGELS & DEMONS

DECEPTION POINT

DIGITAL FORTRESS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Brown is the author of The Da Vinci Code, one of the most widely read novels of all time, as well as the

international bestsellers Angels & Demons, Deception Point, and Digital Fortress. He lives in New England

with his wife.

 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents

either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,

living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright ? 2009 by Dan Brown

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday,

a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by

Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

[http://www.doubleday.com] www.doubleday.com

DOUBLEDAY and the DD colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress.

eISBN: 978-0-385-53313-3

v3.0.13

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