by A. N. Wilson
The sun rose rapidly over the monastery grounds. It was, she said to herself, more a stately home than a monastery, the sort of place she and Mum liked to visit for day-outings. And the Brigadier was there, offering her, and Rachel and Sinclo a lift back to London. It’s all right for you, she thought, you’ve got each other. And then, she found, she hadn’t just thought it, but said it, blurted it out. And into Rachel’s pale, tear-stained cheeks came two little blushing strawberries, and Sinclo said, ‘Have we?’
‘Now,’ asked the Brigadier, leading the way to his car, ‘who’s going to sit in the front?’
Mercy volunteered to do so.
The Brigadier drove the Land Rover efficiently, gently, down golden lanes, past roundabouts, out on to the motorway. No one spoke. But when the big car swooped towards London, Mercy looked in the vanity mirror to catch a glimpse of the pair on the back seat. Sinclo had put his arm round Rachel Pearl, and she was nestling her head on his shoulder, and holding his hand.
A. N. Wilson, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, lives in North London. He is the author of seventeen works of fiction and fourteen works of nonfiction, including The Victorians and, most recently, After the Victorians. You can sign up for email updates here.
Also by A. N. Wilson
FICTION
The Sweets of Pimlico
Unguarded Hours
Kindly Light
The Healing Art
Who Was Oswald Fish?
Wise Virgin
Scandal
Gentlemen in England
Love Unknown
Stray
The Vicar of Sorrows
Dream Children
The Lampitt Chronicles:
Incline Our Hearts
A Bottle in the Smoke
Daughters of Albion
Hearing Voices
A Watch in the Night
NON-FICTION
The Laird of Abbotsford
The Life of John Milton
Hilaire Belloc
How Can We Know?
Penfriends from Porlock
Tolstoy
C. S. Lewis: A Biography
Jesus
The Rise and Fall of the House of Windsor
Paul
God’s Funeral
The Victorians
Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
PART ONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
PART TWO
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
About the Author
Also by A. N. Wilson
Copyright
MY NAME IS LEGION. Copyright © 2004 by A. N. Wilson. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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First published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First Picador Edition: June 2006
P1