It was the end of the summer vacation. I sat beside him in the drawing room. King Edward had passed away in May and Father decided that he must follow shortly. My life is nicely finished off now, he would say. I don’t want to straggle on into somebody else’s era. I’d be the unwelcome guest at the dinner party and I’d rather just go. Catherine was in her position at the piano but not playing. She moved her fingers around above the keys as though thinking where to start, but she had been doing this for several minutes and I wondered if some music was playing in her head that she could not quite catch and tether. My father pushed tobacco into his pipe and patted it down with his finger stub. He lit it and sucked deeply. ‘There was an inquest, of course, all that business about the rope breaking and whether he or Taugwalder cut it. Not possible, of course. The weight of four men already plummeting and pulling you down – how could you have time to pick up a sharp stone or find your knife to cut the rope?
What do You think about When Nights Were Cold (2014)?
