The Witching Hour

Chapter 14 continues as Part II of the “File on the Mayfair Witches” (324).

Petyr continues his account of Deborah being burned for witchcraft, even though she warned him not to attend. She calls on Lasher, who knocks tiles off roofs and onto the heads of the crowd, killing her grandmother and her children. A storm starts to rage. Deborah climbs up to the roof of the church, and Petyr follows her upstairs with the priest Louvier. When the two men reach the roof, Deborah jumps. Petyr pushes the priest, who was in charge of the witch trial, off the roof. Then, Petyr rides to Marseille. He asks Stefan if he can continue the case by seeking out Charlotte, his daughter.

In his reply, Stefan commands Petyr to return to the Talamasca motherhouse or be excommunicated. A psychic in the order predicts Petyr will die if he goes to Port-au-Prince. Stefan warns Petyr of Lasher’s power.

In his next letter, Petyr tells Stefan that he is already on his way to Charlotte. He talked to a woman named Jeanne de Roulet about Charlotte’s husband, Antoine Fontenay, being ill and his son potentially inheriting the illness. Then he set sail.

Chapter 15 continues as Part III of the file.

Petyr writes his next letter in Port-au-Prince and describes Charlotte’s plantation there. It is called Maye Faire and is very profitable. Petyr’s next letter, from the same location, includes descriptions of Charlotte and her home. She resembles Petyr, which further indicates that she is his daughter. Petyr tells her about her mother’s death, and they talk about Lasher. They have dinner with her husband and other members of his family. Lasher possesses Charlotte’s father-in-law. Antoine apologizes for his father’s behavior.

After Antoine goes to bed, Charlotte drinks with Petyr on a bench overlooking the garden. They talk about how she understands Lasher better than her mother. Then, she takes him to a house. Two women enter the bedroom, undress him, kiss him, and blindfold him. While blindfolded, he has sex with Charlotte, and she takes the blindfold off and reveals herself. They have sex two more times that night. Charlotte tells Petyr she wants him to stay with her until he gets her pregnant. Her husband’s illness has inspired her to seek someone healthier.

In the morning, Petyr discovers Charlotte has locked him in the house. Lasher appears and calls Petyr a fool. Charlotte comes back in the afternoon and seduces Petyr again. Lasher knocks over a chair and rattles the dishes. Petyr realizes Lasher can’t get Charlotte pregnant. After she leaves, Petyr drinks. Charlotte returns and offers him a library and money if he will stay with her and get her pregnant multiple times. Petyr doesn’t want to, but she continues to imprison and seduce him. She puts his blood on the occult doll and asks him questions about his life. Eventually, Charlotte becomes pregnant, and Petyr asks her to release him. Reluctantly, she does.

Chapter 16 continues as Part IV of the file.

After Petyr leaves the plantation, he is haunted by Lasher. Petyr can only curse him. Lasher mimics Petyr, takes his hat, throws trees, and animates corpses. Petyr is afraid of corpses, but he escapes the graveyard. Even though he catches a ride on a vegetable cart, he falls off. Lasher appears on a fence, looking very solid. Eventually, Petyr returns to the inn on foot, but Lasher continues to haunt him there.

In his next letter, Petyr tells Stefan he is afraid Lasher will sink a ship. Petyr stays in Port-au-Prince and goes to taverns. Lasher continues to antagonize him. Petyr plans to go back to Charlotte and beg her to keep Lasher away from him. Lasher mimics Roemer and propositions Petyr. Petyr confesses his crush on Roemer.

After this letter, a summary of other letters and reports appears in the file. Petyr is killed on his way back to Charlotte’s plantation, in a large crypt. He was spotted with Lasher before his death. Stefan tried and failed to contact Petyr’s spirit, so he believes Petyr moved on to another realm.

Chapter 17 continues as Part V of the file: “The Mayfair Family from 1689 to 1900.”

This section of the file begins with a “Narrative Abstract by Aaron Lightner” (399). The Talamasca forbade direct contact with the Mayfair family after Petyr’s death. The order hired observers before private eyes existed and collected paintings of the family.

Charlotte gives birth to twins, Jeanne Louise and Peter, after being inseminated by Petyr van Abel. Jeanne Louise wears the emerald, then she passes it down to her daughter, Angelique, who was probably the result of incestuous liaisons between the twins. When Charlotte dies, there is a huge storm. Angelique marries a man named Vincent St. Christophe and gives birth to Marie Claudette. Marie Claudette is the first Mayfair to reside in Louisiana and marries Henri Marie Landry. These Port-au-Prince witches are considered powerful, and the family is Catholic.

The family legacy is passed down through women, one in each generation. They cannot take their husbands’ names if they want to inherit; they must use the Mayfair name. There is also money set aside for other Mayfairs—the siblings of the designee. There are over 500 people with the Mayfair name in Aaron’s lifetime. Many Mayfairs have psychic powers, to varying degrees.

Marie Claudette left Saint-Domingue before the Haitian revolution and acquired a plantation at Riverbend. Her daughter, Marguerite, became the next designee after it was discovered that Claire Marie, her older sister, was severely mentally disabled. Marguerite wears the emerald, is seen with Lasher, and collects various body parts in jars in her library. She has a daughter named Katherine and two sons named Julien and Remy.

Katherine pretends to be “of mixed blood” and attends “quadroon balls” (416). She purchases land on First Street, in the Garden District of New Orleans, and has Darcy Monahan, who becomes her husband, build a house there. After Darcy dies, Julien moves from Riverbend to the First Street house. After losing many of her children and attempting suicide, Katherine moves back to Riverbend. Remy stays in the First Street house. Many members of the Talamasca think Julien inherited psychic powers, not Katherine. He could set things on fire and move objects with his mind. After Julien marries Suzette, he moves back into the First Street house.

Katherine and Julien have a daughter, Mary Beth. Julien and Suzette also have a daughter, named Jeannette, and sons. Jeannette dies young, and Mary Beth is the designee. She and Julien purchase Donnelaith castle and claim a Scottish lord is the father of her daughter, Belle. She is actually Julien’s daughter. When Marguerite dies, there is a storm, and Katherine gives the emerald to Mary Beth. Julien takes Marguerite’s occult doll. He is bisexual, and his lover, Richard Llewellyn, was interviewed by the Talamasca.

Llewellyn’s testimony includes details about Julien’s male friends cross-dressing and going to the opera. Llewellyn was invited to do so but declined. He liked Mary Beth but disliked McIntyre. The latter prefers to be around men and amuses Julien. Llewellyn describes Stella’s funeral. He also describes going to Storyville and seeing Julien transformed into a young man, then going back to the house on First Street and Julien confirming it was him. Julien said he was writing his memoir and wanted Llewellyn to read it, but Mary Beth denies its existence after Julien’s death. Llewellyn thinks she hid it in the house.

Llewellyn describes Julien’s liaisons with sex workers. Mary Beth dresses as a man and goes with Julien to Storyville, but Llewellyn dislikes going there. Katherine and Stella also cross-dressed and went out with Julien. Mary Beth met McIntyre while dressed as a man and playing pool. They were madly in love for a while, but McIntyre’s addiction to alcohol comes between them, and Mary Beth sees other men. When Julien dies, there is a large storm. Mary Beth holds his hand in the casket as the visitors pay their respects. Julien leaves money for Llewellyn to open a bookstore, as well as some photographs. Llewellyn calls Carlotta a monster. When pressed, Llewellyn admits he might have felt or seen Lasher having sex with Julien in the First Street house. After meeting with the Talamasca a few times, Llewellyn dies in 1959.

After this section, the narrative shifts back into the present, as Michael is too tired to read anymore. Aaron suggests he get some sleep and admits to seeing Lasher, but he thinks he is weak. When Michael gets up the next day, he has breakfast with Aaron. Aaron tells him that Rowan is on her way to New Orleans for the funeral at Lonigan and Sons. Michael continues to read the file.

Rowan introduces Slattery to her patients and goes into surgery with him. Afterward, Slattery drives Rowan to the airport. She realizes she can read his thoughts and learns that he doesn’t want her to come back. Rowan tells him that she might not be coming back, and that he can keep her car (which used to be Graham’s). As she waits for her plane, she thinks about her mother’s death and Michael saying death “was the only supernatural event most of us ever experience” (460). Rowan cries behind sunglasses and sleeps on the plane.

Chapter 19 continues recounting the contents of the file as Part VI: “The Mayfair Family from 1900 through 1929.”

The file continues with comments on research methods, which include researching public records, hiring private investigators, and keeping tabs on the gossip among the domestic servants. They also keep track of legal affairs. The family can be divided into French Mayfairs and Irish Mayfairs in this time period. Julien was the last one in the family to speak French and was half Irish. Rowan resembles Julien. Much of the family history was lost when Julien died, according to the Talamasca.

Mary Beth wears the emerald and is the head of the household at First Street until she dies in 1925. She is rumored to have studied voodoo and is seen with Lasher. One time when she was cross-dressing, she beat a man in a physical fight. Overall, she is considered a powerful witch. She uses her occult powers to invest in a wide variety of successful companies, to take revenge on people who try to harm or cheat her, and to warn people about danger. She prefers to work with other Mayfairs instead of outsiders, holds large parties for the family, and financially supports the family. However, there is more gossip about her lovers, who she also financially supports, and her “cross-dressing” (481) than her witchcraft.

Mary Beth married McIntyre in 1899 and had two children: Carlotta and Lionel. Mary Beth is also Stella’s mother, but her father is unknown. Candidates include Julien and Cortland Mayfair. Cortland’s wife is interviewed by the Talamasca about the occult powers of Mary Beth and her husband. Carlotta becomes a lawyer but won’t join the family law firm, while Stella parties, wears the emerald, and sees Lasher, who is called “the man” (496). She is obsessed with dancing and generally having fun. She has her daughter, Antha, out of wedlock; it is unclear who the father is. Stella is aware of the Talamasca and writes them a playful note.

When Mary Beth dies, there is a huge storm, and the attending physician sees Lasher. Stella holds parties that offend the extended family members who attended Mary Beth’s parties. Also, Stella is rumored to hold seances and practice voodoo. Sister Bridget Marie tells the Talamasca that she saw Lasher with Stella and Antha in her Catholic school. Cortland’s son, Pierce, parties and travels with Stella. Carlotta tries to get custody of Antha, but Cortland blocks her.

Chapter 20 continues as Part VII of the file, “The Disappearance of Stuart Townsend.”

This section of the file includes information about Stuart, a member of the Talamasca. In 1929, the order debated making direct contact with the Mayfairs. Stuart convinced the Talamasca to send him to New Orleans. They originally sought out Stuart because he had been possessed by Antoinette Fielding for 10 years. However, his family wasn’t religious and didn’t identify the possession as such. After an accident, Stuart was no longer possessed and had the mind of a 10-year-old in the body of a 20-year-old. When he joined the order, he researched his case and other cases of possession.

Aaron believes that Stuart was unprepared to visit the Mayfairs, but he was in love with Stella and insisted on going. After he disappears, Arthur Langtry, a psychic in the Talamasca, goes to New Orleans to investigate. He talks with Stella, who admits to sleeping with Stuart, and is upset that he is missing. She invites Arthur to a party at the First Street house. When he arrives, he sees Stella dancing and has a vision of Stuart. This causes Arthur to believe that Stuart’s body is in the house. Then, Arthur sees Lasher in a mirror. Stella asks Arthur to take her to the Talamasca and says she’ll meet him at the train station. However, Lionel shoots her at the party, and there is a storm as she dies. As he leaves, Arthur sees Lasher in the garden. He takes a train to New York, then gets on a boat headed to the Talamasca. Onboard, he dies of a heart attack, leaving behind a letter to the Talamasca saying no one else should contact the Mayfairs.

On her flight to New Orleans, Rowan dreams of a sexual encounter with Lasher. She feels guilty, because it isn’t about Michael, and her body is sore as if she’d had a physical encounter with someone else. She also feels violated.

Chapter 22 continues as Part VIII of the file, “The Family from 1929 to 1956.”

The narrative shifts back into the Great Depression. During this time, the Mayfairs’ investments remain profitable, and they help others financially. After Stella’s murder, Lionel is admitted to a private mental hospital and rants about Antha being sexually intimate with Lasher. He also admits to some of the family inbreeding. Stella’s funeral is compared to “The May processions” (551). Lionel dies in the hospital.

The Talamasca bury Arthur in their cemetery in England. One of their private eyes, Irwin Dandrich, reports that Carlotta is evil. After some debate, the order decides to contact Antha after she turns 21. However, she dies before this can happen. In 1953, Aaron takes over managing the Mayfair file. He includes some of his personal history, such as meeting with members of the Talamasca about his mind-reading powers when he was seven and moving into the motherhouse when he was 15. Elaine Barrett, another member, introduces Aaron to the Mayfair file in 1945.

After Antha Mayfair is expelled from school, the First Street house falls into disrepair. Workers report Lasher interfering with repairs on the house. Carlotta takes Antha to various psychiatrists and doesn’t allow Cortland, nor most other Mayfairs, to enter the house. Neighbors see Antha with Lasher in the garden. She runs away to New York in 1938. Cortland’s wife, Amanda, tells a Talamasca informant about Carlotta looking for Antha. The Talamasca tracks her down through her selling rare coins. She becomes a writer and lives with a painter named Sean in Greenwich Village. He dies in a car accident after she gets pregnant. Antha has a mental breakdown and is committed to a mental institution. She asks for Cortland.

Carlotta and Cortland have a custody battle over Antha. Carlotta wins, and Antha is placed in a New Orleans mental health facility. Eventually, she moves into the First Street house again and has her baby, Deirdre. In 1941, Antha falls from the third-floor porch while wearing the emerald, which she doesn’t normally wear, and dies with injuries to her eyes. Simultaneously, a large storm occurs. Carlotta and Cortland fight over custody of Deirdre. A Mayfair relative, Cornell, visits Dierdre and wants to take her out of the house. Cortland arranges to meet Cornell, but Cornell dies that night. Later, the coroner discovers Cornell was drugged and smothered.

Sister Bridget Marie talks to the Talamasca about Lasher interacting with Deirdre at school. Deirdre is expelled from various schools because of Lasher. She lives with Carlotta, Millie Dear, Nancy, and Belle, but she runs away several times as a child. As a teenager, Deirdre attempts suicide and lives with some Mayfairs in California. They send her back to New Orleans after seeing her with Lasher in their yard. Neighbors see Deirdre with Lasher in the garden. She meets Rita Mae and is expelled from more schools. Deirdre is admitted to St. Ann’s Asylum and receives shock treatments before going back to First Street.

After police come to the house to investigate a fight between Carlotta and Deirdre, she runs away to New York. There are signs she was raped, and she goes to live with Cortland in Metairie. Lasher is also spotted there. In 1958, Aaron convinces the Talamasca to allow him to reach out to the Mayfairs.

Chapter 23 continues as Part IX of the file, “The Story of Deirdre Mayfair, Revised Completely 1989.”

Aaron arrives in New Orleans in the summer of 1958. He meets with Beatrice Mayfair and discusses the house, Carlotta, Stella, and Deirdre, as well as a body in the attic. They also discuss Cortland and Amanda’s divorce. The next day, Aaron walks around the neighborhood where Cortland lives and thinks it is peaceful. Aaron discovers that Deirdre is at Texas Woman’s University and travels there. He walks around the campus, posing as faculty, and watches Deirdre.

When he follows her into a botanical garden, she confronts him and asks why he is following her. He wants to tell her about her ancestors, but she doesn’t want to know about them. Deirdre doesn’t want Lasher around. She tries to give Aaron the emerald, but he won’t take it, so she throws it into some bushes. He gives her his card and sees Lasher in the garden. Deirdre runs back to her dorm. Aaron makes sure she is okay by talking to the receptionist, and he leaves her a note.

The director of the Talamasca, Scott Reynolds, tells Aaron to come back, but Aaron politely refuses. He takes a train back to New Orleans and thinks Lasher is responsible for accidents that keep happening around him, such as a fire in his hotel. Aaron writes letters about the file to Cortland and Carlotta. Cortland meets Aaron in the hotel bar and puts a drug in Aaron’s drink. Aaron knows Cortland is dangerous and doesn’t drink it. This upsets Cortland, and Aaron accuses him of poisoning Stuart Townsend and Cornell Mayfair. Cortland tells Aaron to leave Deirdre alone and arranges for a plane ticket for Aaron.

Aaron takes the train to New York instead and then heads to London. There, he becomes ill, and Scott takes him to the hospital. They discover he was poisoned with ricin at the New York airport. Aaron tells the Talamasca’s private investigators to stop contacting the New Orleans Mayfairs. He hires investigators to keep an eye on Deirdre from a distance in Texas. Deirdre becomes pregnant and leaves the university the following term. She is committed and heavily drugged before being sent back to the First Street house. Cortland tries to take her away, but he dies in the house after Lasher pushes him down the stairs.

In 1988, at Nancy’s funeral, Aaron meets Rita Mae. She tells him that Deirdre tried to contact him, but Carlotta physically prevented Rita Mae from getting information from Aaron’s card. Carlotta also made legal threats against the Talamasca. Deirdre gives birth to Rowan in 1959. Rowan’s father is Cortland. Immediately after the birth, Ellie takes Rowan away to California, and Deirdre has a mental breakdown. She is heavily drugged at this point and remains so for the rest of her life. Over the years, she is also given shock treatments. Some repairs are done on the house, and neighbors see Lasher with Deirdre on the porch.

The narrative returns to the present, when Rowan arrives at Lonigan and Sons Funeral Home. There, she is overwhelmed by the number of Mayfairs; she feels nauseous and wishes Michael were there with her. Jerry Lonigan recognizes Rowan and helps her through the crowd of people introducing themselves. Aaron tells Rowan that he is there on Michael’s behalf. He and Jerry help Rowan walk up to the coffin to see Deirdre. Rita Mae tells Rowan that Deirdre didn’t want to give her up. Jerry offers to give Rowan a private viewing later.

Chapter 25 concludes the file with Part X: “Rowan Mayfair.”

This section of the Talamasca’s file first describes how Ellie and Graham take the infant Rowan to Los Angeles, then to the San Francisco Bay area. Afterward, the file focuses on Ellie’s life, highlighting that she was Cortland’s granddaughter and had minimal contact with the New Orleans Mayfairs. Carlotta gives Ellie millions of dollars for Rowan’s trust. Graham, a lawyer, resents Ellie because she has more familial wealth than him. He keeps several mistresses and attempts to sell one of them, Karen Garfield, his house when Ellie gets cancer. However, Graham dies before Ellie, and Karen dies a couple weeks after meeting Rowan.

Growing up, Rowan loves boating, but she doesn’t enjoy being part of Ellie’s social life. Graham buys her the Sweet Christine when she is 16, and she frequently takes it out in the Bay alone. The Talamasca’s informants learned about Rowan’s psychic powers when she was six. She was kind to people who suffered a loss and knew about their problems without them telling her. Since Rowan got in trouble for predicting the death of one of her classmates in the fourth grade, she stopped sharing her predictions. She became an excellent student and attends the University of California, Berkeley.

When she goes into medicine, Rowan’s coworkers tell stories about her incredible healing powers, calling her a “miracle worker” (654). She focuses on neurosurgery after rejecting Karl Lemle’s offer to work in a research facility. He dies about a month after his last meeting with Rowan. Rowan is kind to the nurses, as well as the other staff members at the hospital. No one mentions seeing her with Lasher. The Talamasca learns about her numerous human lovers, all of whom are cops or firefighters, and compare her sexual preferences to Mary Beth. They are aware of her telekinetic power to kill people, and the Talamasca wants Aaron to tell Rowan about the deaths she caused. In addition to Graham, Rowan unknowingly kills Karen and a Berkeley student.

Aaron meets Rowan at Ellie’s grave. He tries to tell her about the Mayfairs and to give her his card, but she refuses to take it. Aaron senses danger from Rowan, similar to the danger he sensed when he met Cortland, and fears for his life. Aaron refuses to meet with her, and no harm comes to him. He admits that it is important to meet with her if she comes to New Orleans to claim her inheritance.

Rowan is enthralled by Deirdre’s funeral at St. Mary’s Assumption and the Mayfair crypt. Pierce tells her there are 12 slots in the crypt, but more than 12 Mayfairs have been buried there. Carlotta tells Rowan to come to the house when she is ready, then leaves. Rowan goes out to eat with other Mayfairs.

In Oak Haven, Michael finishes the section of the file on Rowan and reads other loose papers included in it. These include letters from Aaron about his interview with Deirdre’s doctor, who saw Lasher, and about contacting Michael regarding joining the Talamasca. Then, Michael writes down his experiences of seeing Lasher in his journal. Michael’s sightings started when he was six. He also met Rita Mae on a riverboat. His visions, including the number 13 and a doorway, are still a mystery, but he thinks Lasher is evil.

Rowan goes to the First Street house and stands outside looking at it and the garden until Carlotta sees her and opens the door. Once inside, Carlotta gives Rowan the emerald and knows she’s seen Lasher. Carlotta also knows Lasher touched Rowan sexually and says he touched Deirdre in the same way throughout her life. Rowan realizes Carlotta is a mind reader, and they talk about their various occult powers, including Rowan’s ability to kill with her mind. Carlotta shows her around the house. They take the elevator up to the second floor and into the room where Deirdre died. Her mattress is stained and infested with insects.

They go up the stairs to the third floor and into Julien’s room. It is also infested with insects. There is a trunk filled with dolls, which are made out of the bones and hair of all of the Mayfair women who inherited the emerald and saw Lasher. Carlotta admits to the incest between Cortland and several women including Stella and Antha. Rowan was conceived during Cortland’s sexual assault on Deirdre. Carlotta points out Julien’s writings and talks about his incestuous relations with Katherine and Mary Beth. However, Carlotta refused to have sex with Julien and turned to the church. Incest makes the witches of the family more powerful, according to Lasher.

Carlotta takes Rowan to another room that holds Marguerite’s jars and bottles. These hold body parts, including a decapitated head. Rowan feels nauseated and sees a corpse wrapped in a rug. When confronted about it, Carlotta admits there is a dead man in the house. They go downstairs and into the garden. Carlotta confesses to killing Antha and plucking out her eye, as well as tying up Deirdre and forcing her to take drugs and shock therapy. Rowan curses Carlotta and kills her with a thought. Then, she calls Lasher while putting on the emerald. Michael arrives.

Rowan allows Michael to handle the family members, police, logistics, and funeral arrangements that follow Carlotta’s death and the discovery of Stuart’s body. After everyone leaves, Michael tells Rowan about the Talamasca and the file on her family. He also admits to seeing Lasher over the years, and they debate whether or not Michael’s visions are evil. Michael touched Stuart’s body and learned, psychically, that Carlotta killed him. Rowan confesses her dream about being sexually intimate with Lasher and how it made her feel violated. The feeling of being raped keeps her from wanting to reach out to Lasher. Michael touches the emerald, but he only gets images of Rowan.

Michael discusses how he can restore the house and confirms it is the one he loved as a child. They walk back to the hotel and have sex several times. Rowan wakes up at four o’clock in the morning and quickly reads the Talamasca file on her family. A few hours later, at nine o’clock, she meets Aaron at the First Street house and thanks him for sharing the information in the file.

When Michael wakes up, he finds Rowan’s note about reading the file and meeting with Aaron. She asks him to meet her at the house at three o’clock that afternoon. Michael recalls Aaron telling him about being run off the road by Lasher. After breakfast, Michael walks around the Garden District and the Irish Channel. He goes into St. Alphonsus church, which is run down, and sits in a pew to think about the file and his history with Marie Louise, and pray. Then, he goes to a bar until it is time to meet Rowan.

When he arrives at the house, Rowan tells him she plans to renovate it and stay there. She invites Michael to live with her there after renovating it. He admits he wants to live with her and fix up the house. They debate whether or not Michael’s visions brought them together and if they are in a web of fate. Rowan shares her gratitude for the Mayfair file, which is how she learned that she killed Karen, and how she realized Carlotta wanted Rowan to kill her. She also admits she’s been trying to call Lasher, but her anger has kept him away. They decide to explore the house.

Rowan and Michael look through books and photographs. They also discover china sets, sterling silverware, glassware, and other items around the house. Then, they look at the plants in the garden. Michael points out architectural details as they walk through the rest of the house. Rowan has only seen new construction in California. She wants Ryan Mayfair to come and take all of Carlotta’s possessions. Michael offers to hire cleaners as well. In Deirdre’s room, Rowan breaks a statue of the Virgin Mary, which shocks Michael.

She asks him to touch something of Deirdre’s and use his psychic gift. Reluctantly, Michael agrees. He is overwhelmed at first, but he sees that Lasher comforted Deirdre in her last days. Then he touches other things in the house in various rooms, including the jars and dolls, and sees moments from the past. Various witches have tried to get Lasher into a body. He is able to briefly reanimate corpses and change their appearance, but he can’t keep them alive for very long. The jars hold pieces of the people he possessed. Lasher speaks to Michael about the 13 and threatens him. Michael has a mental breakdown and lies down in Belle’s bed. Rowan puts his gloves back on and calls Aaron as Michael falls asleep.

When Michael wakes up, he is incredibly sore. Aaron helps him get cleaned up and they go back to the hotel, where Michael shares his visions of Belle and others from touching items in the house. Aaron sends the jars, books, and dolls to the Talamasca. They discuss how Lasher wants to be human and how he is dangerous. Aaron says he’s accomplished his goals and will help with anything they need. Then, he retires to his room. After Rowan falls asleep, Michael updates his journal; he writes about how the drums in his vision sounded like a Comus Parade and makes notes about the number 13.

Rowan dreams of using the Mayfair legacy to build hospitals and reads the newspaper story about Carlotta’s death. She wants to wake up Michael to have sex but resists the temptation and goes to meet with the Mayfair and Mayfair law firm. Ryan discusses the various real estate holdings and investments involved in the legacy. Rowan makes them uncomfortable by asking how much she is worth. Lauren eventually estimates seven and a half billion. Rowan wants to use the legacy to build hospitals and learns the firm hasn’t invested any of the legacy billions in the field of medicine. She plans to restore and live in the First Street house, as well as marry Michael. They discuss logistics for hiring cleaners, replacing the old mattresses, and other matters related to the house.

Rowan gets to the house around three o’clock in the afternoon, after the cleaning crew has left and Carlotta’s possessions have been removed. Gerald Mayfair tells Rowan that Michael and Aaron went to her mother’s interment while she was at her meeting with the lawyers. Gerald also tells her that Carlotta wanted him to burn the house down after she died, but he doesn’t plan to. After Gerald leaves, Rowan looks around the clean house and calls Michael. They plan to meet at the hotel. As she is leaving, she notices a vase of roses in the front hall and thinks about Lasher getting flowers for her ancestors. Then, she takes one of the roses, drops it in the garden, mentally taunts Lasher, and walks toward the hotel.