Chapter Twenty-Five
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE “I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE.” Alicia didn’t look at me. I went on, watching her carefully, “I happened to pass your old gallery the other day when I was in Soho. So I went inside. The manager was kind enough to show me some of your work. He’s an old friend of […]
Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR “I THINK IT’S A GREAT IDEA,” said Rowena. “You do?” I tried not to look surprised. “Really?” “Oh, yes. Only problem is, Alicia won’t go for it.” “What makes you so sure?” Rowena gave a derisive snort. “Because Alicia’s the least responsive, most uncommunicative bitch I’ve ever worked with.” “Ah.” I followed Rowena […]
Chapter Twenty-Three
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE I FOUND DIOMEDES IN HIS OFFICE. He was sitting on a stool, in front of his harp. It had a large and ornate wooden frame, with a shower of golden strings. “That’s a beautiful object,” I said. Diomedes nodded. “And very difficult to play.” He demonstrated, sweeping his fingers lovingly along the strings. […]
Chapter Twenty-Two: Alicia Berenson’s Diary
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Alicia Berenson’s Diary AUGUST 2 It’s even hotter today. It’s hotter in London than in Athens, apparently. But at least Athens has a beach. Paul called me today from Cambridge. I was surprised to hear his voice. We’ve not spoken in months. My first thought was Auntie Lydia must be dead—I’m not ashamed […]
Chapter Twenty-One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE I WENT INTO WATERSTONES on my way to work and bought a copy of Alcestis. The introduction said it was Euripides’s earliest extant tragedy, and one of his least- performed works. I started reading it on the tube. Not exactly a page-turner. An odd play. The hero, Admetus, is condemned to death by […]
Chapter Twenty
CHAPTER TWENTY I FOLLOWED JEAN-FELIX into a storage room. He went over to a large case, pulled out a hinged rack, and lifted out three paintings wrapped in blankets. He propped them up. He carefully unwrapped each one. Then he stood back and presented the first to me with a flourish. “Voilà.” I looked at […]
Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEEN THERE WERE NO QUEUES OUTSIDE Alicia’s gallery this time, as there had been that day, six years ago, when I had gone to see the Alcestis. A different artist was hanging in the window now, and despite his possible talent, he lacked Alicia’s notoriety and subsequent ability to draw in the crowds. As […]
Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN KATHY WAS OUT WHEN I GOT HOME. I opened her laptop and tried to access her email—but with no luck. She was logged out. I had to accept that she might never repeat her mistake. Would I keep checking ad nauseam, give in to obsession, driving myself mad? I had enough self-awareness to […]
Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN STEADIER ON MY FEET, but still feeling faint, I followed Paul as he thudded up the dusty staircase. Lydia Rose was waiting at the top. I recognized her scowling face from the window. She had long white hair, spreading across her shoulders like a spider’s web. She was enormously overweight—a swollen neck, fleshy […]
Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEEN I WOKE UP ON THE HARD, cold ground, on my back. My first sensation was pain. My head was throbbing, stabbing, as if my skull had been cracked open. I reached up and gingerly touched the back of my head. “No blood,” said a voice. “But you’ll have a nasty bruise tomorrow. Not […]