"Wait," Mrs. Wladek said. "This is not what I have come to talk to you about. It is why he has taken a job. It is why I will be taking a job."
"You?" Father Seador seemed incapable of speech. "Well, I—"
"I am bewitched," Mrs. Wladek said. "A curse is upon me."
"A curse? Well—" Father Seador stopped and cleared his throat. He sat down again. He blinked. At last he said: "What's wrong, Mrs. Wladek?"
"I have told you," she said. "A curse. A curse. I want you to exorcise this witch that has put on me a hex."
"Exorcise? Curse?" Father Seador coughed. "I'm sure you must be mistaken, or—"
"Mistaken? I am not mistaken. I tell you there is a curse upon me."
The parlor was very quiet for a long time. At last Father Seador said: "If you really believe you've been hexed, you'd better give me all the details. When did you feel this ... this curse put upon you?"
"This morning," Mrs. Wladek said.
"And what kind of curse is this? I mean, what effect has it had?"