Chapter 25

I sat on the living room sofa and waited out the whole night. The fire in the hearth had died long ago, leaving only stray flecks of red in the ashes. The coffee the servants brought went cold and got replaced, replaced and went cold again, until I finally told them to leave me alone. I wrapped myself in a thick shawl and listened to the occasional blast of a foghorn drifting in from the direction of the harbor. Every one of them made my heart skip a beat.