The problem with being dead is watching others grow old and die. Astor never wanted to be friends with Meg, but once Meg figured out his game the friendship was inevitable. Of course, why did Astor help Meg when he didn’t want a friend…he was kind of, sort of starting to tell the truth way back in Chapter 4. Meg really is the last of a lineage, a lineage stemming from Astor’s brother. She’ll never know. He’d never tell. Astor’s been secretly and not so secretly helping out the descendents of his brother’s family for generations. He hasn’t always been successful, Meg wouldn’t be the last surviving family member if he was, but helping gave his afterlife some focus. Since Meg and Astor float in and out of the story, very little of their history will ever be touched on in the plot.