totally unfamiliar.
In the darkness he could disguise the reference that was within him, as a mood of practicality, necessity; the sole action open to them was to find the next thing to do.
Weâve the right to expect her to come to us. We have to see the girl.
Harald kept the key Khulu had given him and returned to the cottage and took, in the silence of the deserted bedroom, the notebook. Read again the passage of text that his son had foundâwhat?âso devastating, a judgment unable to escape; or was it such a confirmation of ego, of power, that he could make of it his text, flaunt it, live by it. Act on it.
Harald went again through the pages. There were a few lines he had missed the first time, among banal jottings; another quotation but nothing he could put a name to. It was scribbled in overlapping large script, the kind of result of something remembered and written by feel, in the dark, half-awake. âIâm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you canât see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.â There was a dash, the initial âNâ. A piece of adolescent self-dramatization probably divided into the broken lines of blank verse in the original, and hardly in a class to be appreciated along with Dostoevsky. He took the notebook to his office and locked it in a drawer of his desk; it was confidential, between him and his son as the two lovers of literature in the family, in their knowledge that the terrible genius of literature can give licence. His son did not know of this confidentiality. He did not know that his father had sneaked into his adult privacy and stolen his cryptic quotes with the intention of deciphering him.
H amilton Motsamai was already in contact with the girlâof course. He stretched behind his desk and turned a gleaming yawn into a smile, in tolerance of the ignorance of lay people of how lawyers have to think ahead of them.âWe donât know this lady. You met her a few times? She has not put herself in a very good light, in view of her behaviour that night. There will be a certain reluctance I anticipate ⦠ah-hêh ⦠(he paddled the air with spread hands) to bring her little performance on the sofa out in court, that weâre aware of. So Iâm not disturbed at all that the Deputy Attorney General has put her on the list for prosecution witness. That means I can cross examine her. You follow?âI couldnât do that if I were to call her as a defence witness. But Iâve also made a request to the prosecutor which hasnât been refused. Heâs allowing me accessâI can have her. Permission to bring her here to talk. Seems for the moment heâs undecided whether heâs going to use her or not, but Iâm sure he will, in the end. He will. So heâll recall permission after Iâve seen her, but thatâs okay, thatâs fine. To cover her own hanky-panky she may try some damaging character allegations about Duncan that would be useful to the
prosecution. But I expect to have all Iâll need from her for when I get her on the witness stand. A lot depends on her attitude to your son. Is she still attached to him? Or is there some bad feeling, resentment towards him, so sheâll try to make herself look blamelessânever mind the sofaâin any provocation that led him to this act. What about her character. All we have is her name, Natalie James, she has worked at an institute for market research, sheâs been a hostess on a cruise ship to the Greek islands, she was at one time secretary to a university professor somewhere, and now she describes herself as âfree lanceâ, I donât know in what. What field. She also writes poems. I have informed her you want to see her. She says she will only meet you here, with me. Not at your place.â
Claudia keeps herself turned away while Motsamai speaks, itâs as if she would shut her eyes to concentrate best on what
In the darkness he could disguise the reference that was within him, as a mood of practicality, necessity; the sole action open to them was to find the next thing to do.
Weâve the right to expect her to come to us. We have to see the girl.
Harald kept the key Khulu had given him and returned to the cottage and took, in the silence of the deserted bedroom, the notebook. Read again the passage of text that his son had foundâwhat?âso devastating, a judgment unable to escape; or was it such a confirmation of ego, of power, that he could make of it his text, flaunt it, live by it. Act on it.
Harald went again through the pages. There were a few lines he had missed the first time, among banal jottings; another quotation but nothing he could put a name to. It was scribbled in overlapping large script, the kind of result of something remembered and written by feel, in the dark, half-awake. âIâm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you canât see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.â There was a dash, the initial âNâ. A piece of adolescent self-dramatization probably divided into the broken lines of blank verse in the original, and hardly in a class to be appreciated along with Dostoevsky. He took the notebook to his office and locked it in a drawer of his desk; it was confidential, between him and his son as the two lovers of literature in the family, in their knowledge that the terrible genius of literature can give licence. His son did not know of this confidentiality. He did not know that his father had sneaked into his adult privacy and stolen his cryptic quotes with the intention of deciphering him.
H amilton Motsamai was already in contact with the girlâof course. He stretched behind his desk and turned a gleaming yawn into a smile, in tolerance of the ignorance of lay people of how lawyers have to think ahead of them.âWe donât know this lady. You met her a few times? She has not put herself in a very good light, in view of her behaviour that night. There will be a certain reluctance I anticipate ⦠ah-hêh ⦠(he paddled the air with spread hands) to bring her little performance on the sofa out in court, that weâre aware of. So Iâm not disturbed at all that the Deputy Attorney General has put her on the list for prosecution witness. That means I can cross examine her. You follow?âI couldnât do that if I were to call her as a defence witness. But Iâve also made a request to the prosecutor which hasnât been refused. Heâs allowing me accessâI can have her. Permission to bring her here to talk. Seems for the moment heâs undecided whether heâs going to use her or not, but Iâm sure he will, in the end. He will. So heâll recall permission after Iâve seen her, but thatâs okay, thatâs fine. To cover her own hanky-panky she may try some damaging character allegations about Duncan that would be useful to the
prosecution. But I expect to have all Iâll need from her for when I get her on the witness stand. A lot depends on her attitude to your son. Is she still attached to him? Or is there some bad feeling, resentment towards him, so sheâll try to make herself look blamelessânever mind the sofaâin any provocation that led him to this act. What about her character. All we have is her name, Natalie James, she has worked at an institute for market research, sheâs been a hostess on a cruise ship to the Greek islands, she was at one time secretary to a university professor somewhere, and now she describes herself as âfree lanceâ, I donât know in what. What field. She also writes poems. I have informed her you want to see her. She says she will only meet you here, with me. Not at your place.â
Claudia keeps herself turned away while Motsamai speaks, itâs as if she would shut her eyes to concentrate best on what
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