lake bank.
‘Dear God,’ said Teddy, stopping abruptly. ‘What on earth-?’
‘Teddy darling,’ said Emmeline. ‘Thank God.’ She turned jerkily to face Teddy and her voice levelled. ‘Mr Hunter has shot himself.’
Tonight I die and my life begins.
I tell you, and only you. You have been with me a long time on this adventure, and I want you to know that in the days that follow, when they are combing the lake for a body they will never find, I am safe.
We go to Germany first, from there I cannot say. Finally, I will see Nefertiti’s head mask!
I have given you a second note addressed to Emmeline. It is a suicide note for a suicide that will never take place. She must find it tomorrow. Not before. Look after her, Grace. She will be all right. She has so many friends.
There is one final favour I must ask of you. It is of the utmost importance. Whatever happens, keep Emmeline from the lake tonight. Robbie and I leave from there. I cannot risk her finding out. She won’t understand. Not yet.
I will contact her later. When it is safe.
And now to the last. Perhaps you’ve already discovered the locket I gave you is not empty? Concealed inside is a key, a secret key to a safe box in Drummonds on Charing Cross. The box is in your name, Grace, and everything inside it is for you. I know how you feel about gifts, but please, take it and don’t look back. Am I too presumptuous in saying it is your ticket to a new life?
Goodbye, Grace. I wish you a long life full with adventure and love. Wish me the same…
I know how well you are with secrets.
I would like to thank the following:
First and foremost, my best friend, Kim Wilkins, without whose encouragement I would never have started, let alone finished.
Davin for his endurance, empathy and unwavering faith.
Oliver for expanding the emotional boundaries of my life and for curing me of writer’s block.
My family: Warren, Jenny, Julia and, in particular, my mother Diane, whose courage, grace and beauty inspire me.
Herbert and Rita Davies, dear friends, for telling the best stories. Be brilliant!
My fabulous literary agent, Selwa Anthony, whose commitment, care and skill are peerless.
Selena Hanet-Hutchins for her efforts on my behalf.
The sf-sassies for writerly support.
Everybody at Allen & Unwin, especially Annette Barlow, Catherine Milne, Christa Munns, Christen Cornell, Julia Lee and Angela Namoi.
Julia Stiles for being everything I hoped an editor would be.
Dalerie and Lainie for their assistance with Oliver (was ever a little boy so loved?), and for giving me the precious gift of time.
The lovely people at Mary Ryan’s for adoring books and making great coffee.
For matters of fact: thank you to Mirko Ruckels for answering questions about music and opera, Drew Whitehead for telling me the story of Miriam and Aaron, Elaine Rutherford for providing information of a medical nature, and Diane Morton for her extensive and timely advice on antiques and customs, and for being an arbiter of good taste.
Finally, I would like to mention Beryl Popp and Dulcie Connelly. Two grandmothers, dearly loved and missed. I hope Grace inherited a little from each of you.
The Shifting Fog is a work of fiction; nonetheless, its setting in history demanded extensive research. It is impossible for me to list here every source consulted; however, I would like to mention a few without whom the book would have been much the worse. Mary S. Lovell’s The Mitford Girls, Cressida Connolly’s The Rare and the Beautiful, Laura Thompson’s Life in a Cold Climate, Anne de Courcy’s 1939: The Last Season and The Viceroy’s Daughters, and Victoria Glendinning’s Vita provide colourful illustrations of country house life in the early part of the twentieth century. For more general historical information, Stephen Inwood’s A History of London and the Reader’s Digest Yesterday’s Britain are both very informative. Beverley Nichols’s Sweet and Twenties, Frances Donaldson’s Child of the Twenties, Punch magazine, the letters of Nancy Mitford, Evelyn Waugh and Katherine Mansfield offer excellent first-hand accounts of literary lives in the 1920s. Noel Carthew’s Voices from the Trenches: Letters to Home and Michael Duffy’s website firstworldwar.com are two excellent sources on the First World War. For information on Edwardian etiquette I turned, as have countless young ladies before me, to The Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette by Professor Thomas E Hill and to Manners and Rules of Good Society or Solecisms to be Avoided published by ‘A Member of the Aristocracy’ in 1924.
All bent truths and errors of fact I claim as my own.
KATE MORTON grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland. She has degrees in Dramatic Art and English Literature, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. Kate lives with her husband and young son in Brisbane.
You can find more information about Kate and her books at www.katemorton.com
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