“I wasn’t sure what to say. ‘I understand your problem,’ I replied, ‘because I can’t divulge the things that Mona has said to me. But can’t I see her? Can’t you let her come down? Can’t I tell her about the ghost of Oncle Julien? Can’t I ask her what she has to say?’

“ ‘You do understand,’ said Michael, ‘that this was a powerful apparition. This ghost chose to intervene in a powerful way. Have you ever seen a ghost like this?’

“ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I have seen ghosts that strong.’

“I told them both the whole story of Rebecca. And as I did so I knew I was being my own worst enemy again. But there could be nothing under this roof but frankness, or so it seemed to me. My love for them ordained that frankness.

“I also told them about Goblin. As much as I thought right.

“ ‘Don’t you see that I belong with her?’ I said finally. ‘She’s the only one who will ever understand me, and I’m the only one who’ll ever understand her?’

“ ‘Son, you have your own ghosts,’ said Michael, ‘and she has hers. You have to move away from each other. You have to seek a decent normality on your own.’

“ ‘Oh, God, that’s impossible!’ I said. ‘We’ll never achieve it. Besides, who’s to say we can’t achieve it better together if it’s achievable at all?’

“I could see now they were pondering my words. I had made some incidental impression of intelligence on them if nothing else. They hadn’t kicked me out of their house yet in any event, and now an overpowering urge to have hot chocolate came over me, a stupid, insidious desire to drink hot chocolate in large amounts.

“And to my utter amazement, Michael rose and said, ‘I’ll fix it for you. I’d like some myself.’ I was stunned. They were a family of mind readers on top of everything else. I heard him laugh under his breath as he went to the pantry. Then came the noises and the deep delicious fragrance of the heated milk.

“Rowan sat there solemnly and pondering, and then, very softly, she spoke. Her voice as usual was much gentler than her angular face, with its high cheekbones and blunt-cut wavy hair.

“ ‘Tarquin, let me lay it out,’ she said. ‘Let me violate Mona’s confidentiality. Let me make that judgment call. Mona has given me permission to do it, to tell you things about her, which really shouldn’t be told. She isn’t really old enough to give that permission. But let me go on. Mona endangers herself every time she has intimate relations with a man. Do you follow me? She runs the risk of hurting herself severely. We’re trying to keep Mona alive.’