Chapter 5.3 extract

“You want me to help you have love without pain. But that is impossible. I cannot do that for you. Love is what it is, Mr. Graves. It can’t be changed to suit you. Even I cannot do that for you.”

“My dear Madame,” Ogden shot back, “I didn’t come here for a lecture about love.”

“But you did. To help you understand,” she told him. Ogden shifted his eyes away from hers.

“The angel in Dream Girl Alley said you had to learn about love. That is to be the task in your late years. You have only just begun.”

“How can you possibly know about Dream Girl Alley? It's my secret—mine and a seven-year-old girl’s. Did my friend tell you?”

“No,” she answered.

“No. Of course not. Not Maxwell,” Ogden said. “What am I saying? But then how do you know about Dream Girl Alley?”

“It’s what I do, Mr. Graves. I’m a medium. What I do is this. I see. And I see that you want me to change the nature of love. But that is impossible.”