Deborah Mayfair
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Deborah Mayfair is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Witching Hour, being the ancestor of the famous Mayfair Witches of Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Deborah Mayfair was raven-haired and had blue eyes. She was conceived during the May festival, and was called a "merry-begot". This and the fact that she may have been the daughter of the Earl of Donnelaith, Scotland, (although the origin of her father was not widely known) were the reasons she wasn't burnt with her mother, Suzanne Mayfair, the first Mayfair witch having summoned Lasher.
Petyr van Abel, a member of the Talamasca, was actually in Donnelaith when Suzanne was executed. He rescued Deborah and took her to Amsterdam with Lasher following. Petyr wanted her to stay with the Talamasca, but Deborah saw them as evil and left, and soon she married the artist Roelant. During that time, Lasher made her wealthy by bringing her gifts from all over the world - one day Deborah saw a beautiful emerald: with the wealth brought to her by Lasher, she purchased what became the Mayfair Emerald. When Roelant died, she married the Comte de Montclève, from France. Before leaving Amsterdam, Deborah seduced Petyr. Charlotte was conceived at this time.
While at Montcleve, Deborah, as well as giving birth to Charlotte, had two sons by the Comte, Chrétien and Phillipe. Deborah became the village healer to the people in Montclève. The Comte is later unfaithful to Deborah, and Lasher, believing Deborah would want revenge, caused him to have a fatal accident. When she was unable to save him, the Comte's mother accused Deborah of witchcraft. She is put on trial and found guilty.
Petyr was actually traveling through Montclève at that time, disguised as a Catholic priest studying witchcraft. They talk the night before her death. In her final moments, as she was led down to be burnt at the stake, she summoned down Lasher, "Come now, my Lasher, be my avenger, strike down my enemies!" "I see you, Lasher, I know you! I call you!" "Destroy my sons, destroy my accusers! Destroy those who have come to see me die!" Lasher destroyed the village and killed almost everyone, but not before Louvier pushed her from the church window and she fell to her death and then was finally burnt. The storm killed the Comte's mother and Deborah's two sons. Lasher, in a rage, went back to Donnelaith and caused a fire that killed the Earl and all his family.
