The Da Vinci Code Chapter 98-99

CHAPTER 98Langdon and Sophie moved slowly down the north aisle, incriminate to the shadows idler the ample pillars that separated it from the open nave. nonwithstanding having traveled more than half focus down the nave, they still had no clear view of Newtons tomb. The sarcophagus was recessed in a niche, obscured from this oblique angle.At least theres no torso over there, Sophie whispered.Langdon nodded, relieved. The correct section of the nave near Newtons tomb was deserted. Ill go over, he whispered. You should stay hidden unspoilt in case soulfulness Sophie had already stepped from the shadows and was headed crossways the open trading floor. is watching, Langdon sighed, hurrying to join her. Crossing the massive nave on a diagonal, Langdon and Sophie remained silent as the boom sepulchre revealed itself in tantalizing incre manpowerts a sullen-marble sarcophagus a reclining statue of Newton two winged boys a considerable pyramid and an immense orb.Did you s tun along ab start that? Sophie said, sounding startled. Langdon shook his head, also surprised. Those look akin cons put forwardations form on it, Sophie said.As they approached the niche, Langdon matte up a slow sinking sensition. Newtons tomb was coveredwith orbs stars, comets, planets. You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb? It could turn forth to be like trying to stimulate a abstracted blade of grass on a golf course.Astronomical bodies, Sophie said, looking c at a timerned. And a lot of them.Langdon frowned. The unless link between the planets and the grail that Langdon could imagine was the pentacle of genus Venus, and he had already tried the password Venus en route to the Temple church.Sophie moved directly to the sarcophagus, b arely Langdon hung back a few feet, keeping an eye on the abbey around them.Divinity,Sophie said, tilting her head and reading the titles of the books on which Newton was leaning. Chronology.Opticks.Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Ma thematica? She turned tohim. Ring both bells?Langdon stepped closer, considering it. Principia Mathematica, as I remember, has something to do with the gravitation pull of planets which admittedly are orbs, but it seems a petty(a) far-fetched.How about the signs of the zodiac? Sophie asked, pointing to the cons speciateations on the orb. You were public lecture about Pisces and Aquarius earlier, werent you?The expiry of Days, Langdon thought. The closing of Pisces and the beginning of Aquarius was allegedly the historical score at which the Priory planned to release the Sangreal documents to the creation. But the millennium came and went without incident, leaving historians uncertain when thetruth was coming.It seems possible, Sophie said, that the Priorys plans to reveal the truth might be related to the hairgrip line of the poem.It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded uterus.Langdon felt a tickle pink of potential. He had not considered the line that way before.You told me e arlier, she said, that the timing of the Priorys plans to unveil the truth about the Rose and her fertile womb was linked directly to the position of planets orbs.Langdon nodded, feeling the first faint wisps of possibility materializing. plane so, his intuition told him astronomy was not the key. The Grand Masters previous solutions had all possessed an eloquent, symbolic significance the Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, SOFIA. This eloquence was emphatically lacking in the c at oncept of planetary orbs and the zodiac. Thus far, Jacques Sauniere had proven himself a meticulous code writer, and Langdon had to turn over that his final password those five letters that unlocked the Priorys ultimate secret would prove to be not further symbolically fitting but also crystal clear. If this solution were anything like the others, it would be distressingly obvious once it dawned.Look Sophie gasped, jarring his thoughts as she grabbed his arm. From the fear in her touch Langdon sens ed some iodine moldiness be approaching, but when he turned to her, she was staring aghast at the top of the black marble sarcophagus. Some whizz was here, she whispered, pointing to a spot on the sarcophagus near Newtons outstretched safe foot.Langdon did not record her concern. A careless tourist had left(a) a charcoal, grave-rubbing pencil on the sarcophagus lid near Newtons foot. Its nothing.Langdon reached out to pick it up, but as he leaned toward the sarcophagus, the light shifted on the polished black-marble slab, andLangdon froze. Suddenly, he saw wherefore Sophie was afraid.Scrawled on the sarcophagus lid, at Newtons feet, shimmered a barely visible charcoal-pencil messageI wealthy person Teabing. Go through and through Chapter fireside, out confederation exit, to unexclusive garden.Langdon read the words twice, his heart pounding wildly. Sophie turned and scanned the nave. Despite the drape of trepidation that settled over him upon seeing the words, Langdon told himself this was good news. Leigh is still alive. in that respect was another implication here as well. They dont k without delay the password either, he whispered.Sophie nodded. Otherwise wherefore make their presence go to sleepn? They may want to hand Leigh for the password. Or its a trap.Langdon shook his head. I dont think so. The garden is away(p) the abbey walls. A very public place. Langdon had once visited the abbeys famous College t cobblers last a small fruit orchard and herb garden left over from the eld when monks grew natural pharmacological remedies here. Boasting the oldest living fruit trees in Great Britain, College Garden was a popular spot for tourists to visit without having to enter the abbey. I think sending us outside is a show of faith. So we feel safe.Sophie looked dubious. You mean outside, where there are no metal detectors? Langdon scowled. She had a point. Gazing back at the orb-filled tomb, Langdon wished he had some idea about the cryptex pas sword something with which to negotiate. I got Leigh involved in this, and Ill do whatever it takes if there is a chance to help him.The note says to go through the Chapter House to the south exit, Sophie said. Maybe from the exit we would gull a view of the garden? That way we could assess the stance before we walked out there and exposed ourselves to any danger?The idea was a good one. Langdon vaguely recalled the Chapter House as a huge octagonal hall where the original British Parliament convened in the days before the modern Parliament building existed. It had been years since he had been there, but he remembered it being out through the cloister somewhere. Taking several steps back from the tomb, Langdon peered around the choir book binding to his right, across the nave to the side opposite that which they had descended.A gaping vaulted passageway stood nearby, with a large sign.THIS steering TOCLOISTERSDEANERYCOLLEGE HALLMUSEUMPYX CHAMBERST. FAITHS CHAPELCHAPTER HOUSELa ngdon and Sophie were jogging as they passed beneath the sign, wretched too quickly to notice the small announcement apologizing that certain areas were closed for renovations.They emerged immediately into a high-walled, open-roof motor inn through which morning rain was falling. Above them, the wind howled across the opening with a low drone, like someone blowing over the mouth of a bottle. Entering the narrow, low-hanging walkways that bordered the courtyard perimeter, Langdon felt the familiar anxiousness he always felt in enclosed spaces. These walkways were called cloisters, and Langdon noted with uneasiness that these particular cloisters lived up to their Latin ties to the word claustrophobic.Focusing his mind straight ahead toward the end of the tunnel, Langdon followed the signs for the Chapter House. The rain was spitting right away, and the walkway was snappy and damp with gusts of rain that blew through the lone pillared wall that was the cloisters and source of li ght. Another equalise scurried past them the other way, hurrying to get out of the worsening weather. The cloisters looked deserted without delay, admittedly the abbeys least tempting section in the wind and rain.Forty yards down the east cloister, an archway materialized on their left, giving way to another hallway. Although this was the entrance they were looking for, the opening was cordoned off by a swag and an official-looking sign.CLOSED FOR regainingPYX CHAMBERST. FAITHS CHAPELCHAPTER HOUSEThe long, deserted corridor beyond the swag was littered with scaffolding and demean cloths. Immediately beyond the swag, Langdon could see the entrances to the Pyx Chamber and St. Faiths Chapel on the right and left. The entrance to the Chapter House, however, was a lot farther away, at the far end of the long hallway. Even from here, Langdon could see that its heavy wooden limen was wide open, and the spacious octagonal interior was bathed in a grayish natural light from the rooms e normous windows that looked out on College Garden. Go through Chapter House, outsouth exit, to public garden.We just left the east cloister, Langdon said, so the south exit to the garden must be through there and to the right.Sophie was already stepping over the swag and moving forward.As they hurried down the dark corridor, the sounds of the wind and rain from the open cloister faded behind them. The Chapter House was a kind of satellite structure a freestanding annex at the end of the long hallway to ensure the privacy of the Parliament proceedings housed there.It looks huge, Sophie whispered as they approached.Langdon had forgotten just how large this room was. Even from outside the entrance, he could gaze across the vast expanse of floor to the breathtaking windows on the far side of the octagon, which rose five stories to a vaulted ceiling. They would certainly have a clear view of the garden from in here.Crossing the threshold, both Langdon and Sophie found themselves having to squint. After the blasphemous cloisters, the Chapter House felt like a solarium. They were a good ten feet into the room, searching the south wall, when they established the limen they had been promised was not there.They were standing in an enormous dead end.The creaking of a heavy door behind them made them turn, just as the door closed with a resounding thud and the bar fell into place.The lone man who had been standing behind the door looked calm as he aimed a small revolver at them. He was portly and was propped on a pair of aluminum crutches.For a moment Langdon thought he must be dreaming.It was Leigh Teabing. CHAPTER 99Sir Leigh Teabing felt rueful as he gazed out over the barrel of his Medusa revolver at Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu. My friends, he said, since the moment you walked into my home last night, I have done everything in my power to keep you out of harms way. But your persistence has now put me in a difficult position.He could see the expressions of sh ock and betrayal on Sophies and Langdons darings, and in time he was confident that soon they would both understand the chain of events that had guided the three of them to this unlikely crossroads.There is so much I have to tell you both so much you do not yet understand.Please believe, Teabing said, I never had any intention of your being involved. You came to my home. You came searching for me.Leigh? Langdon finally managed. What the perdition are you doing? We thought you were in trouble. We came here to help youAs I trusted you would, he said. We have much to discuss.Langdon and Sophie seemed unable to tear their stunned gazes from the revolver aimed at them.It is simply to ensure your full attention, Teabing said. If I had wanted to harm you, you would be dead by now. When you walked into my home last night, I risked everything to spare your lives. I am a man of honor, and I vowed in my robustest conscience merely to sacrifice those who had betrayed the Sangreal.What are you talking about? Langdon said. Betrayed the Sangreal?I discovered a terrible truth, Teabing said, sighing. I learned why the Sangreal documents were never revealed to the world. I learned that the Priory had decided not to release the truth after all. Thats why the millennium passed without any revelation, why nothing happened as we entered the End of Days.Langdon drew a breath, about to protest.The Priory, Teabing continued, was given a sacred charge to share the truth. To release the Sangreal documents when the End of Days arrived. For centuries, men like Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Newton risked everything to shelter the documents and necessitate out that charge. And now, at the ultimate moment of truth, Jacques Sauniere changed his mind. The man honored with the greatest responsibility in Christian history eschewed his duty. He decided the time was not right. Teabing turned to Sophie. He failed the Grail. He failed the Priory. And he failed the storage of all the generations that had worked to make that moment possible.You? Sophie declared, glancing up now, her green eyes boring into him with rage and realization. You are the one responsible for my granddads murder?Teabing scoffed. Your grandfather and his senechaux were traitors to the Grail. Sophie felt a fury rising from deep within. Hes lyingTeabings phonation was relentless. Your grandfather sold out to the perform. It is obvious they pressured him to keep the truth quiet.Sophie shook her head. The church had no forge on my grandfatherTeabing laughed coldly. My dear, the perform has two thousand years of experience pressuring those who threaten to unveil its lies. Since the days of Constantine, the Church has successfully hidden the truth about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. We should not be surprised that now, once again, they have found a way to keep the world in the dark. The Church may no longer employ crusaders to slaughter non-believers, but their influence is no less persuasive. No less insi dious. He paused, as if to punctuate his next point. Miss Neveu, for some time now your grandfather has wanted to tell you the truth about your family.Sophie was stunned. How could you know that?My methods are immaterial. The important thing for you to grasp right now is this. He took a deep breath. The deaths of your mother, father, grandmother, and brother were not accidental.The words sent Sophies emotions reeling. She opened her mouth to speak but was unable. Langdon shook his head. What are you saying?Robert, it explains everything. All the pieces fit. History repeats itself. The Church has a precedent of murder when it comes to silencing the Sangreal. With the End of Days imminent, killing the Grand Masters loved ones sent a very clear message. Be quiet, or you and Sophie are next.It was a car accident, Sophie stammered, feeling the childhood pain welling inside her. An accidentBedtime stories to protect your innocence, Teabing said. care that only two family members went unt ouched the Priorys Grand Master and his lone granddaughter the perfect pair to provide the Church with control over the brotherhood. I can only imagine the terror the Church wielded over your grandfather these past years, threatening to kill you if he dared release the Sangreal secret, threatening to finish the job they started unless Sauniere influenced the Priory to reconsider its quaint vow.Leigh, Langdon argued, now visibly riled, certainly you have no proof that the Church had anything to do with those deaths, or that it influenced the Priorys conclusion to remain silent.Proof? Teabing fired back. You want proof the Priory was influenced? The new millennium has arrived, and yet the world clay ignorant Is that not proof bountiful?In the echoes of Teabings words, Sophie heard another voice speaking. Sophie, I must tell you the truth about your family.She realized she was trembling. Could this possibly be that truth her grandfather had wanted to tell her? That her family had been off? What did she truly know about the crash that took her family? Only sketchy details. Even the stories in the report had been vague. An accident? Bedtime stories? Sophie flashed suddenly on her grandfathers over protectiveness, how he never liked to leave her alone when she was young. Even when Sophie was 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 entire life, looking after her.You suspected he was being manipulated, Langdon said, glaring with disbelief at Teabing. So you murdered him?I did not pull the trigger, Teabing said. Sauniere was dead years ago, when the Church stole his family from him. He was compromised. Now he is free of that pain, released from the shame caused by his inability to carry out his sacred duty. Consider the alternative. Something had to be done. Shall the world be ignorant forever? Shall the Church be allowed to cement its lies int o our history books for all eternity? Shall the Church be permitted to influence indefinitely with murder and extortion? No, something needed to be done And now we are self-contained to carry out Saunieres legacy and right a terrible wrong. He paused. The three of us. Together.Sophie felt only incredulity. How could you possibly believe that we would help you?Because, my dear, you are the reason the Priory failed to release the documents. Your grandfathers love for you prevented him from challenging the Church. His fear of reprisal against his only remaining family crippled him. He never had a chance to explain the truth because you rejected him, tying his hands, making him wait. Now you owe the world the truth. You owe it to the memory of your grandfather.Robert Langdon had given up trying to get his bearings. Despite the torrent of questions running through his mind, he knew only one thing mattered now acquire Sophie out of here alive. All the guilt Langdon had mistakenly felt earlier for involving Teabing had now been transferred to Sophie.I took her to Chateau Villette. I am responsible.Langdon could not fathom that Leigh Teabing would be capable of killing them in cold blood herein the Chapter House, and yet Teabing certainly had been involved in killing others during his misguided quest. Langdon had the uneasy feeling that electric rayshots in this secluded, thick-walled chamber would go unheard, especially in this rain. And Leigh just admitted his guilt to us.Langdon glanced at Sophie, who looked shaken. The Church murdered Sophies family to silence the Priory? Langdon felt certain the modern Church did not murder pack. There had to be some other explanation. let Sophie leave, Langdon declared, staring at Leigh. You and I should discuss this alone. Teabing gave an unnatural laugh. Im afraid that is one show of faith I cannot afford. I can, however, offer you this. He propped himself fully on his crutches, gracelessly keeping the gunaimed at Sophi e, and removed the sand from his pocket. He swayed a bit as he held it out for Langdon. A token of trust, Robert.Robert felt wakeful and didnt move. Leigh is giving the keystone back to us?Take it, Teabing said, thrusting it awkwardly toward Langdon.Langdon could imagine only one reason Teabing would give it back. You opened it already. You removed the map.Teabing was shaking his head. Robert, if I had solved the keystone, I would have disappeared to find the Grail myself and kept you uninvolved. No, I do not know the answer. And I can admit that freely. A true knight learns humility in the face of the Grail. He learns to obey the signs placed before him. When I saw you enter the abbey, I understood. You were here for a reason. To help. I am not looking for leftover glory here. I serve a far greater master than my own pride. The Truth. Mankind deserves to know that truth. The Grail found us all, and now she is begging to be revealed. We must work together.Despite Teabings pleas f or cooperation and trust, his gun remained trained on Sophie as Langdon stepped forward and accepted the cold marble cylinder. The vinegar inside gurgled as Langdon grasped it and stepped backward. The dials were still in random order, and the cryptex remained locked.Langdon eyed Teabing. How do you know I wont smash it right now?Teabings laugh was an eerie chortle. I should have realized your threat to break it in the Temple Church was an empty one. Robert Langdon would never break the keystone. You are an historian, Robert. You are holding the key to two thousand years of history the lost key to the Sangreal. You can feel the souls of all the knights burned at the stake to protect her secret. Would you have them die in vain? No, you will vindicate them. You will join the ranks of the great men you admire Da Vinci, Botticelli, Newton each of whom would have been honored to be in your shoes right now. The contents of the keystone are crying out to us. Longing to be set free. The time has come. requisite has led us to this moment.I cannot help you, Leigh. I have no idea how to open this. I only saw 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 disappointed and surprised, Robert, that you do not appreciate the extent to which you are in my debt. My task would have been far simpler had Remy and I eliminated you both when you walked into Chateau Villette. Instead I risked everything to take the impressiver course.This is noble? Langdon demanded, eyeing the gun.Saunieres fault, Teabing said. He and his senechaux lied to Silas. Otherwise, I would have obtained the keystone without complication. How was I to imagine the Grand Master would go to such ends to deceive me and bequeath the keystone to an estranged granddaughter? Teabing looked at Sophie with disdain. Someone so unqualified to hold this knowledge that she required a symbologist baby-sitter. Teabing glanced back at Langdon. Fortunately, Robert, your involvement turned out to be my preservation grace. Rather than the keystone remaining locked in the depository bank forever, you extracted it and walked into my home.Where else would I run? Langdon thought. The community of Grail historians is small, and Teabing and I have a history together.Teabing now looked smug. When I learned Sauniere left you a last message, I had a pretty good idea you were holding valuable Priory selective information. Whether it was the keystone itself, or information on where to find it, I was not sure. But with the police on your heels, I had a creep suspicion you might arrive on my doorstep. Langdon glared. And if we had not? I was formulating a plan to extend you a helping hand. One way or another, the keystone was coming to Chateau Villette. The fact that you delivered it into my waiting hands only serves as proof that my cause is just.What Langdon was appalled.Silas was supposed to break in and s teal the keystone from you in Chateau Villette gum olibanum removing you from the equation without hurting you, and exonerating me from any suspicion of complicity. However, when I saw the intricacy of Saunieres codes, I decided to imply you both in my quest a bit longer. I could have Silas steal the keystone later, once I knew enough to carry on alone.The Temple Church, Sophie said, her tone awash with betrayal.Light begins to dawn, Teabing thought. The Temple Church was the perfect location to steal the keystone from Robert and Sophie, and its apparent relevance to the poem made it a glib decoy. Remys orders had been clear stay out of sight while Silas recovers the keystone. Unfortunately, Langdons threat to smash 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 unaware of Teabings true i dentity and was easily fooled into taking him from the church and then watching naively as Remy pretended to tie their hostage in the back of the limousine. With the soundproof divider raised, Teabing was able to phone Silas in the front seat, use the fake French accent of the Teacher, and direct Silas to go straight to report Dei. A simple anonymous tip to the police was all it would take to remove Silas from the picture.One loose end tied up.The other loose end was harder. Remy.Teabing struggled deeply with the decision, but in the end Remy had proven himself a liability. Every Grail quest requires sacrifice.The cleanest solution had been staring Teabing in the face from the limousines wet bar a flask, some cognac, and a can of peanuts. The powder at the bottom of the can would be more than enough to trigger Remys deadly allergy. When Remy parked the limo on Horse Guards Parade, Teabing climbed out of the back, walked to the side passenger door, and sat in the front next to Remy . Minutes later, Teabing got out of the car, climbed into the rear again, cleaned up the evidence, and finally emerged to carry out the final phase of his mission.Westminster Abbey had been a short walk, and although Teabings leg braces, crutches, and gun had set off the metal detector, the rent-a-cops never knew what to do. Do we ask him to remove his braces and crawl through? Do we frisk his deformed body? Teabing presented the flustered guards a far easier solution an embossed card identifying him as Knight of the Realm. The poor fellows often tripped over one another ushering him in.Now, eyeing the bewildered Langdon and Neveu, Teabing resisted the urge to reveal how he had brilliantly implicated Opus Dei in the plot that would soon bring about the demise of the entire Church. That would have to wait. Right 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 spoke to them in a whisper now. Listen. heap you hear it? The Grail is speaking to us across the centuries. She is begging to be saved from the Priorys folly. I entreat you both to recognize this opportunity. There could not possibly be three more capable people assembled at this moment to break the final code and open the cryptex. Teabing paused, his eyes alight. We need to swear an gadfly together. A pledge of faith to one another. A knights allegiance to uncover the truth and make it known.Sophie stared deep into Teabings eyes and spoke in a steely tone. I will never swear an pesterer with my grandfathers murderer. Except an oath that I will see you go to prison.Teabings heart turned grave, then resolute. I am sorry you feel that way, mademoiselle. He turned and aimed the gun at Langdon. And you, Robert? Are you with me, or against me?