The witching hour - By Anne Rice Page 0,148

but wonder why did the man know about her? Hadn’t the whole adoption been hush-hush?

“Mr. Lonigan,” she said, trying to speak clearly and ignore the thickness in her voice, “it’s very important to me that I be there for the funeral. I want to see my mother before she is put into the ground.”

“Of course you do, Dr. Mayfair. I understand. But Miss Carlotta called here just now and said if we don’t bury your mother tomorrow … Well, let’s just say she’s insisting on it, Dr. Mayfair. I can schedule the Mass for as late as three P.M. Do you think you could make it by that time, Dr. Mayfair? I will hold everything up just as long as I can.”

“Yes, absolutely, I will make it,” said Rowan. “I’ll leave tonight or early tomorrow morning at the latest. But Mr. Lonigan—if I get delayed—”

“Dr. Mayfair, if I know you’re on your way, I won’t shut that coffin before you arrive.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lonigan. I only just found out. I just … ”

“Well, Dr. Mayfair, if you don’t mind my saying so, it only just happened. I picked up your mother at six A.M. this morning. I think Miss Carlotta’s rushing things. But then Miss Carlotta is so old now, Dr. Mayfair. So old … ”

“Listen, let me give you my phone number at the hospital. If anything should happen, call me please.”

He took down the numbers. “Don’t you worry, Dr. Mayfair. Your mother will be here at Lonigan and Sons when you come.”

Again the tears threatened. He sounded so simple, so hopelessly sincere. “Mr. Lonigan, can you tell me something else?” she said, her voice quavering badly.

“Yes, Dr. Mayfair.”

“How old was my mother?”

“Forty-eight, Dr. Mayfair.”

“What was her name?”

Obviously this surprised him, but he recovered quickly. “Deirdre was her name, Dr. Mayfair. She was a very pretty woman. My wife was a good friend of hers. She loved Deirdre, used to go to visit. My wife is right here with me. My wife is glad that you called.”

For some reason, this affected Rowan almost as deeply as all the other bits and pieces of information had affected her. She pressed the handkerchief to her eyes tightly, and swallowed.

“Can you tell me what my mother died of, Mr. Lonigan? What does the death certificate say?”

“It says natural causes, Dr. Mayfair, but your mother had been sick, real sick for many years. I can give you the name of the doctor who treated her. I think he might talk to you, being that you are a doctor yourself.”

“I’ll get it from you when I come,” Rowan said. She could not continue this much longer. She blew her nose quickly and quietly. “Mr. Lonigan. I have the name of a hotel. The Pontchartrain. Is that convenient to the funeral home and the church?”

“Why, you could walk over here from there, Dr. Mayfair, if the weather wasn’t so hot.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I get in. But please, again, promise me that you won’t let my mother be buried without … ”

“Don’t worry about it another minute, Dr. Mayfair. But Dr. Mayfair, there’s one thing more. It’s my wife who wants me to take it up with you.”

“Go ahead, Mr. Lonigan.”

“Your aunt, Carlotta Mayfair, she doesn’t want any announcement of this in the morning paper, and well, frankly, I don’t think there’s time for an announcement now. But there are so many Mayfairs who would want to know about the funeral, Dr. Mayfair. I mean the cousins are going to be up in arms when they find out how all this happened so fast. Now, it’s entirely up to you, you understand, I’ll do as you say, but my wife was wondering, would you maybe mind if she started calling the cousins. ’Course once she gets one or two of them, they’ll call everybody else. Now, if you don’t want her to do that, Dr. Mayfair, she won’t do it. But Rita Mae, my wife, that is, she felt that it was a shame to bury Deirdre this way without anybody knowing, and she felt maybe, you know, that it might do you good to see the cousins who would turn out. God knows, they came out for Miss Nancy last year. And Miss Ellie was here, your Miss Ellie from California, as I’m sure you know … ”

No, Rowan had not known. Another dull shock struck her at the mention of Ellie’s name. She found it painful to envision Ellie back there