Something had been slumbering under her veil of apathy. The laughter brought it to life and it showed in her eyes and her trembling lips as raw terror. ‘Don’t, Denys, don’t. Oh, stop!’ She clutched his arm and shook it. ‘May we share the joke, sir?’ asked Wexford blandly. Villiers stopped laughing as people can when their laughter doesn’t stem from amusement but from some irony they have observed with admiration. He shrugged and then, his face going blank, opened his book once more and began to read where he had left off. ‘Mrs Villiers,’ said Wexford, ‘I want to talk to you again about the events of Tuesday night.’ ‘But why?’ Her voice was barely under control. ‘I thought it was all over. I was just beginning to stop thinking about it and now … Oh God, what shall I do?’ She stood for a moment, staring wildly at them and then ran from the room. Villiers smiled a little, apparently at something in his own book. Aware as he was of the huge vanity of writers, Wexford was nevertheless unable to understand how one of them could actually laugh at something he had written himself.
What do You think about Guilty Thing Surprised (2012)?
