I don't think Ginty/Patrick could ever have had any possibility of being idyllic. Right from the start it's clear that it's mainly fantasy; it grows from the Gondal fantasy, Patrick is infatuated with his own idea of Ginty (the jury's still out on who the real Ginty actually is). Ginty's persona around Patrick, of course, is her idea of what his fantasy-Ginty is, so his being sixteen and male is not entirely to blame. :)

I always thought Ginty needed a Rhett Butler kind of person; someone who doesn't care that she's a vain, changeable piece of fluff; someone that sees behind the pretty mask.