They were bedded down in the common hall with the other servants, on straw pallets laid behind the benches, and that night Eloise found it impossible to sleep despite her exhaustion. Maybe it was the aching in her feet and shoulders, or maybe the intrusive sounds of those others nearby. Someone w...
I stood up as the passenger door opened to disgorge one of Father Velimir’s sidekicks—the one with the red beard that I recognized from our meeting in the park with Branko—along with a couple of other priests. They looked agitated but pleased with themselves, and there was no mistaking the way th...
The cut had already been made. I straightened to meet the gaze of the man who’d accosted me. It wasn’t, thank God, the vicar: that would have been too embarrassing. ‘I didn’t actually bring it to the wedding,’ I explained. ‘I keep it in my coat. In the car.’ ‘In the car, right.’ He made it sound ...
I glanced around at the shrouded furniture that cluttered the parlour where we were sitting. ‘If we’re going to be doing any shooting, wouldn’t it have been better to invite a few more people?’ And bring some servants, I might have added. We’d had to lay our own fire, and a sorry job we’d made of...
There’s no point in struggling to eke out the last few moments of consciousness; the process is unpleasant enough even when he’s relaxed. Already he can feel the chill taint in his flesh. He could stand in an Arctic blizzard and not feel cold, but he’s clammy now. Reaching up, he grasps the handl...