“ ‘You have to understand that my life isn’t normal. Most Mayfairs don’t seek for a normal life. But my life isn’t even normal for a Mayfair. And this goal, this goal of sleeping with all my cousins, it’s been over for some time.’ Her eyes looked suddenly sad, and she looked up at me imploringly. ‘But yeah, I’ve been here, I have to confess, I have christened this room before with my cousin Pierce, but it doesn’t matter, Tarquin, it’s all new with you, that’s what matters. And I was never Ophelia with Pierce. I’m going to marry Pierce but I’ll never be Ophelia.’

“ ‘You can’t marry Pierce, you have to marry me. My life’s not normal either, Mona,’ I said. ‘You have no idea how strange it is and you and I are no doubt meant for each other.’

“ ‘Oh, yes, I do. I know your ghost goes everywhere with you. I know you lived all your life among adults. You have no real knowledge of children. That’s what Fr. Kev told me. At least that’s what I could drag out of him. I almost got Fr. Kev into bed, but in the final go-round he proved to be immovable. He’s what anybody would call a good priest, but he’s loosening up when it comes to gossip, though not, you understand, about anything he hears in the confessional.’

“Her eyes were so green that I could scarcely concentrate on what she was saying.

“ ‘And did he warn you off of me?’ I asked. ‘Did he tell you I was crazy?’

“She laughed a sweet laugh and she bit down on her lower lip as if she was thinking. ‘You’ve got it backwards. They’re out to protect you from me. Course they do want to keep me under lock and key. That’s why I was at the front door of the house waiting for you. I am now considered to be a raving slut. I had to see you before they did. And I’m not the only witch in the family.’

“ ‘Mona, what do you mean when you say “witch”? What are you talking about?’

“ ‘You mean you’ve never heard of us?’

“ ‘Yes, but only good things—like Dr. Rowan’s dream of Mayfair Medical, and Fr. Kev and how he came South to revisit the Irish Channel where he was born, that sort of thing. We go to St. Mary’s Assumption Church. We see Fr. Kev all the time.’