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" 'She was tortured in the Hermitage,' I said. 'She was tortured with those chains. ¡¯

" 'You defend her to me? What is that to me? Allow me to suggest you remove the chains and put them with the casket of her remains which you've buried in the cemetery. ¡¯

" 'You spy on me night and day,' I said, my teeth clenched with anger.

" 'I wish I could,' he answered. 'Now I'm going to let you go and you can turn and you can look at me just as you please, and you keep your part of the bargain and I'll never hurt you or your family or your darling love with the red hair or her clan of witches. ¡¯

"His arms were removed. I spun around. He stood back.

"He was as I remembered. Six feet in height. Thick jet black hair pulled back from a square forehead with high temples and big black eyes with dark eyebrows that gave him a determined expression, and a long line of a smiling mouth, all very impressive, and a square jaw. Eyes positively flashing in the light. He was dressed in a fine black suit, and for one instant I saw all of him, and then he was turning, sporting the long thick black ponytail of hair -- and gone as surely as if he'd dematerialized like Goblin.

"Goblin was immediately by my side, and Goblin said aloud, 'Evil, Quinn, evil. He doesn't disappear. He uses speed. ¡¯

" 'Hold my hand, Goblin!' I said to him. 'I knew you were near but you heard his threats. ' I was shaking violently.

" 'Had I come between you, Quinn, he would have crushed you. He was too ready for me, Quinn. He wasn't afraid. ¡¯

"I turned, still trembling so badly that I could scarcely stand upright, and I saw the inevitable lights in Aunt Queen's window. It was the lurid flare of the television.

"I embraced Goblin and then told him we must go to Aunt Queen. I was crazed with excitement.

"I rushed into the kitchen, across the back hall, and banged on her door. I found her in her chaise lounge as usual with her champagne, and some champagne sherbert, concluding the marathon drinking bout that had begun at dinner. Jasmine was fast asleep under the covers. The Scarlet Empress with Marlene Dietrich was on TV.

" 'Listen to me,' I said, pulling up a chair. 'I know I'm fast losing my reputation with you as a sane person. ¡¯

"I pulled out my cotton handkerchief and mopped the sweat from my face.

" 'That's quite all right,' she rejoined. 'You have a powerful reputation as my great-nephew. ¡¯

" 'The stranger attacked again. It was just outside. He got me in a choke hold. ¡¯

" 'Good Lord, Jasmine --. ¡¯

" 'No, wait, don't call anyone. He's gone, but before he left he told me just what he wanted. He made a list of demands, all having to do with the refurbishing of the Hermitage, and he proposed that after the renovation we share the place -- that he would use it by night and I would use it by day. And if I didn't agree to his plan he'd kill me. ¡¯

"She was aghast. She said nothing. Her small blue eyes gazed fixedly into mine.

" 'But Aunt Queen, this is the strange part -- not that he crept onto our land, not that he made the floodlights go off on the west side of the property, not that he got me in a choke hold -- all that's normal stuff more or less. It's what he wants done to the building!¡¯

" 'What do you mean?¡¯

" 'The refurbishing. It's all precisely what I want! It's as though he read it in my mind. He did read my mind. The electricity, the new marble floors, the glassed-in windows, the new bronze stairs inside. He asked for nothing that I hadn't already thought of. I'd even mentioned it to you, mentioned it to the men, that they should remember the route to the place because I wanted to put in electricity. He read my mind, I tell you. He played with me on it. The creature's not human. He's some sort of spirit or ghost like Goblin. Only he's a different species, Aunt Queen, and I have to go to Mona, because Mona will know and so will Stirling Oliver. ¡¯

" 'Quinn, stop, be still!' she said. 'You're raving! You're in a tirade. Jasmine, wake up. ¡¯

" 'Don't bring her into this, she'll be a nuisance,' I said.

"Jasmine was already awake and sitting there silently passing judgment.

" 'I'm going up to write out a complete plan for the renovations, then I'm going to rest before I go to Mona,' I said.

" 'Darling, it's midnight. You must talk to me before you leave to see Mona,' said Aunt Queen.

" 'Vow to me that you'll allocate the funds for the Hermitage. It's nothing compared to the money we spend all the time on Blackwood Manor. Oh, I can't wait to see the Hermitage redone. But then I myself have the money, don't I? I forgot that. I can afford it. How amazing. ¡¯

" 'And this splendid reinvention of a place you mean to share with a man who dumps bodies to alligators?' she responded.

" 'Maybe I was wrong. Maybe something else was happening. I only know that it won't hurt to carry out my own scheme for renovations and now he's no obstacle, don't you see? An hour ago he was a giant stumbling block to all I dreamt of for the Hermitage. He was an invader. Now he's part of the scheme. He asked for nothing that I didn't want already. Aunt Queen, he watches us. He knows you walk around the house in the morning. You need the guards with you. He's cunning. ¡¯