I can’t remember the exact words that she used; something like “That daughter of mine, Mary, needs a good ...ing.” I do remember what Mary’s mother was trying to say: I was supposed to perform the evil act. Why me? Was it my task? “My task in life?”
And she was not the only one who said that and meant that. Mary’s sister, Issy, said it, other people too. I got a task to do. That was when I first met Mary and of course Mary’s mother.
Some time later, after I had tried very hard, Mary had not changed and Mary’s mother repeated the same wish:
“That daughter of mine, Mary, needs a good f..ing.”