Linnl, you are correct. Let the game now continue!

Yes, okay. It continues with...

"All the world was smashed flat and all the echoes of the explosion came back to reverberate at midnight, at four in the morning, at dawn, and he was up early, stunned with the sound of coffee simmering and the sound of matches being struck and cigarettes lit and himself trying to shave and looking at mirrors that were sickening in their distortion."

And...

"And as it spoke he bent his head and he could feel the warm breath--of course it was there!--coming from her mouth, and when he listened very carefully, holding her to his head, his eyes shut, wasn't it there, too, softly, gently--the beating of her heart?"

Familiar, but I shall give it more time before I rush to look it up.

Also,

"But I hear!" she said, and stopped as if someone had put a hand to her mouth.

And So...

"She looked at him and there was nothing in her eyes. His hand shook and in shaking made the marionette tremble, too. Her mouth closed and opened, closed and opened, closed and opened, again and again and again. Silence."

They still don't know.

Nope.

Claude Rains had a beautiful(?) friendship with her.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/804/...ska#x-0,vepisode,1,0

Rats!
I should've know.
I've read that several times, but it's been awhile...

Right, BrII. I recently watched this on Sir Alfred's classics. Eerie!

Fellow sentient life-forms and mechanical marrionettes, the title of this story has yet to be named. Kindly go for it, if you like.

You could have picked one that would be easy to spell!

There is an alternate (also published as) title without the "R" word, if you like.

Still no takers...

Can anyone name the alternate title?