"Why is that so hard for you to understand?"
"Think about it, Beth."
"What happened last night was a mistake."
"Yes, it was. It made me reconsider the merits of the Roman Catholic Church."
"Now, what is that supposed to mean?"
"If you're a Catholic-and all the Castillos but this one are devout Roman Catholics-when you have sinned, all you have to do is go to confession. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Convince the priest that you're sorry, and he grants you absolution, and all is forgiven. Clean slate. Forget it."
"Well, at least you're sorry about yesterday."
"On a strictly philosophical, moral level, yeah. But Satan has his claws in me, and on another level, I'm not sorry, and I don't think I'll ever forget it."
"Does that mean you're sorry or not?"
"I don't like the prospect of having always to remember that I plied my father's buddy's about-to-be-married daughter with martinis and had my wicked way with her."
"My God!"
"Not that I seem to recall there was much resistance involved."
"You bastard!"
"You're learning," Castillo said, and sipped his scotch.
"It happened. What we have to do is decide what we're going to do about it."
"Is one of my options doing it again? The cow, so to speak, being already out of the barn."
"I won't even respond to that. What I came to ask you is what I came to ask you last night. Will you take a part in the wedding?"
"Jesus Christ! I'm a bastard, not a hypocrite!"
"My mother, this morning, said she was going to ask you. My father said it probably wasn't that good an idea. She told him to ask you. At supper he said he couldn't, because you were stuck someplace because of the weather. But he'll ask you tomorrow."
"He won't find me tomorrow, trust me."
She didn't reply.
He said, "I just can't believe you're going to marry Righteous. Just can't understand it."
"I love him. Can you understand that?"
"No."
"It's as simple as that, Charley. We have a lot in common. I understand him. He understands me."
"I don't think he would understand what happened last night."
"He's never going to know what happened last night…is he?"
"As tempting as it is for me to consider having it whispered down the Long Gray Line that Castillo nailed Righteous Randolph's fiancee five days before they got hitched, I couldn't do that to you or your parents. Our sordid little secret will remain our sordid little secret."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."