Page 96
" 'You're shocking me,' I said. 'You're hurting me! I want the Hermitage. I've been inspired by that marble desk and golden chair. I want to paint the place, floor it in marble. Look, I know the grief I'm causing you. I know the pain you've been through with Pops' death, and I don't mean for this agony to go on, but I want that place, don't you see, and it belongs to us, not this interloper!¡¯
"I glanced at Goblin. He was watching Aunt Queen in the most intense manner. And then he looked at me almost listlessly. It was as if he had acquired a taste for boredom. I had to talk to him. I had to make some judgment of what he now knew! I was the only person in the world who understood this problem.
" 'All right, precious dear,' said my beloved aunt. 'I'm going upstairs for supper. ¡¯
"She had previously made known to me, more than once, that there were four restaurants in this complex and the finest could rival any restaurant in New Orleans. This was all Rowan Mayfair's idea, to provide varying fare for relatives of the sick and the sick themselves. You could grab a quick meal in the generic cafeteria in the basement or mount to the rooftop Grand Lumini¨¨re for the most succulent choices.
"Aunt Queen had become a regular at the Grand Lumini¨¨re, and my meals came directly from their kitchen.
" 'I'm meeting Nash, you know,' she went on to say, 'and if you'd only just --¡¯
" 'I'll meet him when I'm properly dressed,' I said. 'Not when I'm got up like Wee Willie Winkie. ¡¯
"She rose to go.
" 'And there's another thing,' I said.
" 'Yes?' she asked. She was so polite, standing over me, ready to plant her tender kiss, so solicitous.
" 'When do I get out of here?¡¯
"Obviously this was a moment for a decision.
" 'Tomorrow, perhaps, after you talk to the panel of psychiatrists?' she proposed. 'It's scheduled for four p. m. ¡¯
"Already arranged, I thought, but I made no remark on it.
" 'All right,' I said. 'Then suppose you and I and Nash and Goblin have supper in the Grand Lumini¨¨re after the appointment with the panel is over. ¡¯
" 'That sounds marvelous,' she said. 'You've made me very happy. Oh, so extremely happy. And you should see the restaurant. And you will! And I can't wait to tell Nash. ' And after another wealth of kisses she was off with the fragrance of Lynelle's marvelous perfume lingering behind her.
"I looked at Goblin. He showed no inclination to move from his lazy position in the corner. He was wearing my lucky Versace tie. It was positively flaunting.
"I flicked on the computer. 'You haven't talked to me since that first night. ' I said it as I typed it. 'What's up with you? What's the matter? I've told everyone what you did. I've given you credit. ¡¯
"He was gone, and the fact that he had been so vivid made it all the more startling. The computer keys started to move; he wrote:
" 'I like being angry. ¡¯
"I was stunned.
" 'That's wrong,' I typed as I spoke. 'The man who hurt me was angry. Did you see the bad things he did to me?¡¯
" 'Use bigger words,' said the computer in a rapid fire of keys. 'I told you I know all the words you ever used on the computer. I listen. I know. I know words and things. And when I was angry it was for you. ¡¯
" 'I know it was for me,' I replied, speaking and tapping it out. 'Surely you've heard me tell everyone. ¡¯
" 'Don't you see what is happening to you here?' he asked. The keys were moving at terrific speed. 'They are trying to take me from you. They are trying to divide us and we are Quinn Goblin and they don't understand about us. ¡¯
" 'It doesn't matter what they think,' I said. I spoke softly. 'I love you. I am loyal to you. They can't part us. It's impossible. But you can't be angry. You can't be violent. If you're angry and violent I can't love you. ¡¯
" 'Unless it's for you, you mean,' he countered. 'If it's for you, then it's good, isn't it?¡¯
"He had never phrased anything in this way. It was a tiny yet momentous twist of sophistication.
" 'That's true,' I said. 'I do want you to protect me. Protect Blackwood Manor. Protect all those I love. ¡¯
" 'You make me laugh,' he wrote.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96 (Reading here)
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199