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bishop. Perhaps you know him? Manuel Aringarosa? The head of Opus Dei? Of course I know of him. Who in the Church doesnt? Aringarosas conservative p ray ban blue gradient aviator relature had grown powerful in recent years. Their ascension to grace was jumpstarted in 1982 when Pope John Paul II unexpectedly elevated them to a personal prelature of the Pope, officially sanctioning all of their practices. Suspiciously, Opus Deis elevation oc ray ban blue gradient aviator curred the same year the wealthy sect allegedly had transferred almost one billion dollars into the Vaticans Institute for Religious Workscommonly known as the Vatican Bankbailing it out of an embarrassing bankruptcy. In a second maneuver that raised eyebrows, the Pope placed the founder of Opus Dei on the fast track for sainthood, accelerating an often century-long waiting period for
ennuyeux, Sophie grumbled. Boring, he corrected. French at school. English at home. Le Louvre, cest pas chez moi! she challenged. He gave her a tired laugh. Right you are. Then lets speak English just for fun. Sophie pouted and kept walking. As they entered the Salle des Etats, her eyes scanned the narrow room and settled on the obvious spot of honorthe center of the right-hand wall, where a lone portrait hung behin ray ban blue gradient aviator d a protective Plexiglas wall. Her grandfather paused in the doorway and motioned toward the painting. Go ahead, Sophie. Not many people get a chance to visit her alone. Swallowing her apprehensio ray ban blue gradient aviator n, Sophie moved slowly across the room. After everything shed heard about the Mona Lisa, she felt as if she were approaching royalty. Arriving in front of the protective Plexiglas,
assorted conspiracy theories. Sophie already looked troubled. Youre saying the Knights Templar were founded by the Priory of Sion to retrieve a collection of secret documents? I thought the Templars were created to protect the Holy Land. A common misconception. The idea of protection of pilgrims was the guise under which the Templars ran their mission. Their true goal in the Holy Land was to retrieve the documen ray ban blue gradient aviator ts from beneath the ruins of the temple. And did they find them? Langdon grinned. Nobody knows for sure, but the one thing on which all academi ray ban blue gradient aviator cs agree is this: The Knights discovered something down there in the ruins... something that made them wealthy and powerful beyond anyones wildest imagination. Langdon quickly gave Sophie the standard academic sketch of the accepted Knights
pulling. Then she tried again. V-I-N-C- ray ban blue gradient aviator I Again, no movement. V-O-U-T-E Nothing. The cryptex remained l ray ban blue gradient aviator ocked solid. Frowning, she replaced it in the rosewood box and closed the lid. Looking outside at Langdon, Sophie felt grateful he was with her tonight. P.S. Find Robert Langdon. Her grandfathers rationale for including him was now clear. Sophie was not equipped to understand her grandfathers intentions, and so he had assigned Robert Langdon as her guide. A tutor to oversee her education. Unfortunately for Langdon, he had turned out to be far more than a tutor tonight. He had become the target of Bezu Fache... and some unseen force intent on possessing the Holy Grail. Whatever the Grail turns out to be. Sophie wondered if finding out was worth her life. As the armored truck accelerated
questioned whether his lifes quest would ever be rewarded. Now those doubts were gone forever. He could hear the ancient words... the foundation of the Grail legend: Vous ne trouvez pas le Saint-Graal, cest le Saint-Graal qui vous trouve. You d ray ban blue gradient aviator o not find the Grail, the Grail finds you. And tonight, incredibly, the key to finding the Holy Grail had walked right through his ray ban blue gradient aviator front door. While Sophie and Teabing sat with the cryptex and talked about the vinegar, the dials, and what the password might be, Langdon carried the rosewood box across the room to a well-lit table to get a better look at it. Something Teabing had just said was now running through Langdons mind. The key to the Grail is hidden beneath the sign of the Rose. Langdon held the wooden box up to the light and examined the
turned his eyes now to the dimly lit front recesses of the spacious interior. Everyone comfy? Langdon gave a weak nod. He and ray ban blue gradient aviator Sophie were still crouched on the floor beside the bound and gagged albino. Moments earlier, as the Haw ray ban blue gradient aviator ker taxied into the deserted hangar, Rémy had popped the hatch as the plane jolted to a stop halfway through its turn. With the police closing in fast, Langdon and Sophie dragged the monk down the gangway to ground level and out of sight behind the limousine. Then the jet engines had roared again, rotating the plane and completing its turn as the police cars came skidding into the hangar. Now, as the limousine raced toward Kent, Langdon and Sophie clambered toward the rear of the limos long interior, leaving the monk bound on the floor. They settled onto the long
our own? Without a word, Langdon led her another few steps to the center of the abbey and pointed to the right. Sophie drew a startled breath as she looked down the length of the abbeys nave, the full magnitude of the building now visible. Aah, she said. Lets find a docent. At that moment, a hundr ray ban blue gradient aviator ed yards down the nave, out of sight behind the choir screen, the stately tomb of Sir Isaac Newton had a lone visitor. The Teacher had been scrutinizing the monument for ten minutes now. Newtons tomb consisted of a massive black-marble sarcophagus on which reclined the ray ban blue gradient aviator sculpted form of Sir Isaac Newton, wearing classical costume, and leaning proudly against a stack of his own booksDivinity, Chronology, Opticks, and Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. At Newtons feet stood two winged boys