Da Vinci... Botticelli...
Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies.
Alive with wonder, he stared once again downward through the glass at the tiny structure
below.
I must go down there!
Stepping out of the circle, he hurried across the courtyard back toward the towering
pyramid entrance of the Louvre. The day's last visitors were trickling out of the museum.
Pushing through the revolving door, Langdon descended the curved staircase into the
pyramid. He could feel the air grow cooler. When he reached the bottom, he entered the long
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tunnel that stretched beneath the Louvre's courtyard, back toward La Pyramide Inversée.
At the end of the tunnel, he emerged into a large chamber. Directly before him, hanging
down from above, gleamed the inverted pyramid— a breathtaking V-shaped contour of glass.
The Chalice.
Langdon's eyes traced its narrowing form downward to its tip, suspended only six feet
above the floor. There, directly beneath it, stood the tiny structure.
A miniature pyramid. Only three feet tall. The only structure in this colossal complex that
had been built on a small scale.
Langdon's manuscript, while discussing the Louvre's elaborate collection of goddess art,
had made passing note of this modest pyramid. "The miniature structure itself protrudes up
through the floor as though it were the tip of an iceberg— the apex, of an enormous, pyramidical
vault, submerged below like a hidden chamber."
Illuminated in the soft lights of the deserted entresol, the two pyramids pointed at one
another, their bodies perfectly aligned, their tips almost touching.
The Chalice above. The Blade below.
The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates.
Langdon heard Marie Chauvel's words. One day it will dawn on you.
He was standing beneath the ancient Rose Line, surrounded by the work of masters. What
better place for Saunière to keep watch? Now at last, he sensed he understood the true meaning
of the Grand Master's verse. Raising his eyes to heaven, he gazed upward through the glass to a
glorious, star-filled night.
She rests at last beneath the starry skies.
Like the murmurs of spirits in the darkness, forgotten words echoed. The quest for the Holy
Grail is the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to pray at the feet of
the outcast one.
With a sudden upwelling of reverence, Robert Langdon fell to his knees.
For a moment, he thought he heard a woman's voice... the wisdom of the ages... whispering
up from the chasms of the earth.
Copyright (C) 2003 by Dan Brown
ISBN 0-385-50420-9
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