“ ‘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 Luminière 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.