"Goodness only knows," Merlyn says, quite cheerfully. "I think we agreed it probably refers to the Virgin Mary, but frankly, after a few decades, you start to forget where you picked up those kinds of bits and bobs. They just become part of the verbal landscape, as it were."

It's true that he's never really considered it until coming here, or, if he did consider it, it was long enough ago and trivial enough that he's long forgotten any conclusions he came to. He doesn't mind the question, though. It's not exactly relevant, but it's rather nice to have somebody to ask questions at all.

"You have a brother here?" he asks, after a moment, and frowns. "I'm very sorry to hear it."