The light was fading when he arrived at the river, but a deep stain of sunset still lingered in the sky. The hot, dry weather had continued; the air was grained with dust, giving a spreading splendor to the sunsets during these days. The crowd by the water was jostling and noisy, with people thronging for boats and waiting in lines on the quays. Today had been a hanging day at Tyburn, one of the eight in the year. He had not known this, but Hudson had made mention of it while helping him to dress, and he had immediately wondered whether Spenton had chosen the day with this in mind. Hanging days were occasions for public holiday, and there was a festive, jubilant air in the crowd. Street musicians and beggars and performers of all kinds were taking advantage of this concourse of people. There was a man juggling with pointed spikes, a troupe of dwarf acrobats, a legless ex-soldier, still in tattered uniform, on a little wheeled cart. Pies and sausages were being offered for sale, and a bareheaded Gypsy woman was holding out to passersby a single white rose that she claimed had come from the buttonhole of one of the men executed that day.
What do You think about The Quality Of Mercy (2012)?
