“ ‘Yes, he was right by the gate. He was very strong, but you must realize my talents for such perception are, if anything, rather over-developed. For me the world’s a crowded place.’

“ ‘Was he angry or bitter?’ I asked.

“ ‘Neither,’ he said, ‘but rather glad to be seen.’

“At this point Mona spoke up, taking our arms as she interposed, ‘Why don’t I invite him in? We’ll make a place at the table for him?’

“ ‘No, not tonight,’ I said. ‘I want to be selfish. He has his moments. This is one of mine.’

“The dinner went on swimmingly, with lots of conversation about whether I should in fact go to Europe, and Michael felt that there comes in each person’s life a perfect time to go to Europe and one can go either too early or too late. I agreed with that heartily and then dared to ask if it was at all possible for Mona to go if Aunt Queen would agree to bring another female chaperone dedicated entirely to Mona, and I made it clear in euphemisms, which the august dining room seemed to require, that I would never risk Mona’s health or well-being for cheap lust.

“I hope I made half the potent figure that I tried to be. When only Mona consented to everything I said, Rowan went on to state matter-of-factly that Mona couldn’t be away from Mayfair Medical at this time, it was simply out of the question, and that if it was at all possible she and Michael would take Mona to Europe so that Mona could have the experience again.

“In fact, Mona went on to explain that it had been on her trip to Europe that her ‘condition’ had been discovered and the tour had been cut short for that reason and she had come home to undergo intense study at the medical center, plus injections of hormones and nutrients and other drugs as well.

“Throughout, nobody mentioned Mona’s mysterious child. And I didn’t mention the mysterious stranger.

“We went into the double parlor after the supper and there I drank more brandy than I should. But I fixed the situation with a call to Clem to come get me in Aunt Queen’s stretch limousine, with Allen to drive the Mercedes home, which worked out very well, since Aunt Queen was ‘entertaining’ in her room.

“Michael and Rowan showed no letup of interest in me, or if they did I was a perfect fool. Stirling Oliver was affable and curious as well. We talked about seeing ghosts and I told them all the entire story of Rebecca, again using all the appropriate euphemisms, which the parlor seemed to require. I had the feeling in my semidrunken pride that Mona was enjoying all of this.