“You can see I don’t like it. Passion isn’t all there is to love. She liked life action-packed. I did, too, at that age. What went on between us added to the intensity of our sexuality. I was always chasing her—or cheating on her,” he corrected. “Or drunk. And drunk.”

“I wasn’t finished. It happened to you because you didn’t know there are people like her in the world. You fell in love with someone who is charming when she wants to be, unstoppable when she wants to be, and constitutionally incapable of feeling remorse. You were primed for her, whoever you are, whoever you were. After you left, she started deteriorating.”

Who are you? He slumped back. “You mean she’s insane.”

“That word had no meaning. She’s not insane now, not having an episode. She’s eager to see you. She had her hair done. I know she’s going to be charming. You know it, too. Stop and think: do you really want to put yourself through this?”

“How did she get here?”

“According to the records, her father and mother brought her when she was in what turned out to be a very long episode. She was disassociating, manic. It lasted until she wore herself out and ground to a stop. That’s the pattern she’s followed since. When things haven’t gone her way, this behavior surfaces and takes control. When she reaches physical exhaustion, she returns to something closer to the middle ground. I called her our guest. Her parents pay—plenty—and she’s free to come and go. Twice she’s attempted to make it on the outside, and both experiences led to setbacks. The second time, she returned voluntarily. She knows she’s better off here than anyplace else, including her parents’ home. For all their money, the Brennans are profoundly ignorant people. Jim Brennan once said to my predecessor that he felt sorry for Maryellen in her childhood because she was a girl and couldn’t have the life he wanted for her.

“Maryellen is functional now—not perfect. She has her own apartment, which she manages quite nicely. She may talk about the woman downstairs. As you’ll see, there is no downstairs. If you point that out to her, she’ll ignore you. The ‘woman downstairs’ is someone Maryellen can point her finger at, an imaginary scapegoat. The other thing you’ll see is that she’s chosen to behave as if she were decades younger than her actual age, which is forty-four. She may range anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five. This morning she was a very happy young woman.”

“You like her.”

“I love her. She makes choices, I said.”

“I’m still her husband,” Devlin said. “What would happen if I tried to have her declared incompetent?”