Andre raised both eyebrows. "Knowing Si?" he asked. "She certainly didn't take long to cozy up to you, did she?"

Starling raised both eyebrows in return. "Pretty much as soon as I stopped bein' a parrot," he admitted.

Andre was quiet for a moment. "Right. I don't really want to hear about this," he admitted, laughing a little, and he shook his head. "But she's been there a few months by now. I understand...you know. Wanting to get to know someone before getting married to him. She must know all the options at this point."

"I been worried," he said earnestly. "She weren't exactly lookin' forward to it, from what she told me, so it's better to know that she's just bored instead of outright miserable. A little better, anyways."

Andre gave the boy a sad look. "I know she didn't want to go," he agreed. "But she felt like it was her responsibility nonetheless. I think she was more miserable in anticipation of doing something she didn't want to do. She knew it wouldn't be so bad, but...it's still frustrating."

"See, that sounds more like my aunt. Except that she's in love with the place." He sighed. "Maybe it'll get better later. They know where she is now, they know she's not gonner up and leave them forever." Except that Si just might, if she stayed bored long enough.

"I don't even know that," Andre pointed out. "It's Si. She's not exactly very good at sticking with anything for the long haul. IF you didn't notice?"

He nodded, even as he said, "People change."

It seemed to occur to him all at once that he was relatively alone in very close quarters with a man who knew that Starling had slept with not one but both of his daughters. All his instincts told him to flee. "Anyway. Sorry for interrupting. I thought you were the ghost."

Andre shrugged. "It's no trouble," he said. "I was just talking to the baby. Who can't really understand me yet, anyway. He can say 'Da,' and I like to fuss over it in front of Spider because it amuses her, but I'm quite aware that plenty of babies say 'da' and it doesn't mean anything. So what is this about this ghost?" he asked. "I hear it attacked the kitchen."

"I don't know, they won't let anyone in." Not that Starling hadn't tried. "They took down the door and nailed up some canvas over the frame. Word's out the place is trashed."