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" '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.