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"As for supper, we were all to join Aunt Queen on the other side of the house where the table was set on the flagstone patio using the newly refurbished wicker.

" 'Rebecca's wicker,' I explained to Mona. 'Rebecca and I -- it was in a dream -- we had coffee together and we were sitting in these wicker chairs. You'll see. ¡¯

"And I'll see too, I thought. I'll see if it matches the furnishings of my dream exactly, because I might have imagined it earlier when I'd wandered out there, so mystified and confused.

"As we walked on, past the front of the house, as I looked up at the reddened and darkening sky, I felt the panic again.

"But I drove it away. Time for something convivial and I was ready for it.

"Quickly I searched for Goblin. Come with us, be with us. I tried to smile at him, but I think he knew my multitude of fears. He could read my face if not my mind. "

Chapter27

27

"AS SOON AS I SAW the ensemble of white wicker tables and chairs I recognized them again as the setting in my dream. It sent the chills up me and the panic came again in a brilliant wave, almost causing my teeth to chatter.

"I could hear Rebecca's voice in my head and I was afraid I was going to get dizzy. When I had described these dizzy states to the doctors at Mayfair Medical they had spoken of small seizures.

"But how could such an explanation account for this -- furniture duplicating that which I had only seen well in a dream? The fact was the seizure theory accommodated nothing.

" 'Mona, my darling love,' I said as we approached the table, 'I need you. ¡¯

" 'What you need more than anything in the world,' she said, 'is to be with Stirling Oliver. ' But I could see the passion in her eyes; I could see that she was holding back. I could see the evidence of my progress with her.

" 'And what we all need is supper,' said Aunt Queen, who greeted me with a kiss and then planted one on Mona's cheek also.

" 'You know, dear,' said Aunt Queen, 'you really are quite beautiful. ¡¯

"Aunt Queen had decked herself out in a sack dress of beige satin, long strands of pearls, a shell cameo at her throat and the most glittering spike heels I'd seen ever. The band across her toes was studded with diamonds and the brilliantly wrought cameo of Apollo with his lyre at her neck was surrounded by tiny diamonds also.

"The entire supper arrangement was illuminated by soft floodlights attached to the side of the house and also by a ring of candles in hurricane lamps. The wicker was exceptionally detailed and well constructed -- what an antique dealer would have given a small fortune to have -- and as I studied it the atmosphere of the dream returned to me. Rebecca said in my ear, Red-haired bitch. I tasted dream coffee. The chills were quietly passing over me. A wave of terror passed over me. A life for my life. A death for my death.

"We were seated at once in the newly painted peacock chairs, and yes, I realized, Goblin's place was there to my left as it always was, and I had not even thought to ask for it.

"My mind and body were aswim with sensations. Merely glancing at Mona on my right side made me want to carry her up to bed. And then a dull misery from Rebecca's dream kept breaking through. Go into the Light, I silently prayed. I tried hard to focus on what was around me. I had to be a man for Mona. And this was no place to become a centaur.

"Jasmine, got up exquisitely in a tiny-waisted violet suit with a frothy white blouse, brought the tarragon chicken and rice to us. Big Ramona, in her usual crisp white apron, was pouring the wine.

"I could see that Aunt Queen had been working some kind of magic with Jasmine. Jasmine was experiencing some change in status. Jasmine had a glamour to her, and surely I wasn't responsible for it.

" 'And look at the shoes on these lovely ladies, would you?' I said to Nash and Mona. 'It makes me want to kiss their feet. ¡¯

" 'Eat your supper, Little Boss,' said Jasmine in an under voice. 'You're not kissing my feet. ¡¯

"Mona laughed.

" 'Nothing succeeds,' Nash replied, 'like excess. ' He smiled. 'I must say it is a pleasure being here in these glorious surroundings. I've never heard the cicadas sing like this except here in Louisiana. ¡¯

" 'And how have you spent today?' I asked. 'I feel that, having fallen in love with Mona, I'm neglecting you, but discovering one's future bride can be very distracting. I've become a happy madman. ¡¯

" 'And well it should distract you,' he replied. 'And you mustn't worry about me for a moment. This is all so new to me, so fascinating. I've been quite fine. I took a long early afternoon nap and then spent a wonderful time surveying your Aunt Queen's fabulous collection of cameos. ¡¯

" 'Cameos,' said Mona. 'You mean you have more than what we saw in the living room case?¡¯

" 'Hundreds more,' said Aunt Queen. 'Spanning my whole life, and you can well imagine how long that is. But here, a toast to Mona Mayfair, our lovely young guest, and to Nash Penfield, who will soon guide us on the Grand Tour, and to my great-nephew, who this day came into part of his inheritance. ¡¯

" 'Mona's going with us to Europe, Aunt Queen,' I declared. 'Is there any way we could leave before midnight? Mona will be going as my bride. ¡¯