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" 'Maybe we are crazy,' I said, 'both of us. She being able to see Goblin, imagine that. And both of us seeing ghosts. She talked of it all from a scientific point of view. I felt like I wasn't a freak. I felt like she and I were of the same ilk. And now it seems this person, this precious person whom I so loved is being stolen from me. ¡¯

" 'Darling, it's only for one evening,' said Aunt Queen patiently. 'You've been invited there tomorrow afternoon. ¡¯

" 'And you're not dead set against my going?' I asked. I started cleaning up the chicken and rice on my plate. I was hungrier than ever. I wonder what trauma could have shaken my appetite. 'I thought you'd feel just the opposite. ¡¯

" 'Well, this may surprise you,' said Aunt Queen, 'but I think you might accept this invitation for a very good reason. Few people outside the family ever get to see the interior of that mysterious Mayfair house, and you ought to take advantage of the privilege. Also I have a hunch that when you see Mona again, some of this fire will burn itself out. Of course I may be wrong, the child's gorgeous, but it's what I'm hoping for. ¡¯

"I was plunged into misery but eating like a pig. 'Listen,' I said, 'if I can get her away from there, with her passport, can we set out for Europe immediately?¡¯

"I could see the continued amazement in Nash's otherwise placid and dignified face, but Aunt Queen looked a bit provoked.

" 'Tarquin,' she said, 'we're not stealing the girl. Jasmine, more wine please. Jasmine, you're not yourself. When have I ever nagged you so much?¡¯

" 'I'm sorry, Miss Queen,' she said. 'It's just those Mayfairs scared me. The stories people used to tell about their house, it was awful. I don't know if a boy Quinn's age --. ¡¯

" 'Bite your tongue, beautiful!' I said, 'and you can pour me some wine, too. I'm going tomorrow. ¡¯

" 'They had a ghost!' Jasmine said, quite belligerently. 'It used to scare off any workman who ever tried to work on that property. You remember my cousin Etienne, he was a plasterer, and they called him to that house, and the ghost pulled the ladder from under him. ¡¯

" 'Oh, stuff and nonsense,' I said. 'And Etienne used to tell fortunes in the cards. ¡¯

" 'I can do that too, Little Boss,' Jasmine sent back. 'I can read your cards, if you want, and tell you what your fate is. ¡¯

"She took my plate and heaped it with a second helping. The chicken was really delicious now, and the gravy was thick.

" 'Jasmine's telling you the truth, darling,' said Aunt Queen. 'They're a haunted family, as I said. ' She paused. 'Before Dr. Rowan came out from California, no one would go near that house. Now they have big family get-togethers there. They are an immense clan, you know. And that's what I fear when I think of them. They're a clan, and a clan can do things to you. ¡¯

" 'The more you say, the more I love her,' I responded. 'Remember, I got my passport in New York, when I was there with you and Lynelle. I'm ready to rumble. But what do you mean, they're a haunted family?¡¯

" 'For years,' she said, 'it was a dreadful ghost, just as Jasmine described. He did a lot more than push people off ladders. But he's gone now, this illustrious ghost. And what surrounds them is talk of genetic mutations. ¡¯

"I had to be quiet. But it didn't work. She went quiet too.

" 'What happened to the dreadful ghost?' I asked.

" 'Nobody knows except that something violent occurred. Dr. Rowan Mayfair almost lost her life, as I mentioned. But somehow or other the family got through it. Now Mona, Mona came down from an intensely inbred line of the family. That's why she's been named the Design¨¦e of the Legacy. Can you imagine? Being chosen because you are inbred? If there are genetic problems, you might guess that Mona has them. ¡¯

" 'I don't care,' I said. 'I adore her. ¡¯

" 'Mona didn't grow up at the house at First and Chestnut. She grew up on St. Charles Avenue, not very far from Ruthie's house, and her people went back to a plantation house in the country. There was a murder. Mona wasn't a rich little girl, by any means. ¡¯

" 'Mona told me all this. So she wasn't rich. Do I have to love somebody rich? Besides --¡¯

" 'You keep missing the point. The child is now in line to inherit the Mayfair fortune. ¡¯

" 'She told me that, herself. ¡¯

" 'But Quinn, don't you see?' she persisted. 'This child is under intense scrutiny. The Mayfair Legacy involves billions. It's like the capital of a small country. And here she's gone from an unstable family to inherit an unimaginable fortune. Nash, you explain it. The girl's rather like an heir to the throne of England. ¡¯

" 'Exactly,' said Nash in a very mild professorial manner. 'In the sixteenth century it was an act of treason to court young Elizabeth or Mary Tudor because they were in line for the royal crown. When Elizabeth finally became queen, the men who had dallied with her were executed. ¡¯

" 'You're implying the Mayfairs might kill me?' I asked.

" 'No, indeed not, what I'm trying to say,' Aunt Queen returned, 'is that they will reclaim Mona no matter where she goes or

how. You saw for yourself. They were quite prepared to pick her up bodily and carry her to that limo. ¡¯

" 'We should never have let her go,' I said. 'I have a terrible feeling about it. ¡¯