"As I said, I want to know my future."
"You know your future as well as I do; the only question is when, and you are aware, I think, that I would not tell you that even if I could, What do you want?"
So much for polite conversation. I said, "You know who Jill Quarrier is."
"Of course."
"Then you ought to know that she failed."
The old woman frowned. "Failed?"
"She didn't have what it took."
"She couldn't have--"
"If I had left her alone, it might have been different. Then again, it might not have."
She glared at me. "What have you done to her?"
"She lives."