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They went to the theatre on Tuesday, visited Anne’s cottage on Cape Cod on Wednesday, gyrated to the Grizzly Bear and the Te on Thursday, shopped for antiques on Friday, and made love on Saturday After Sunday, they were rarely apart Milly and John Preston were ’absolutely delighted’

that theirhad at last proved so successful Milly went around Boston telling everyone - that she had been responsible for putting the two of theement came as no surprise to anyone except William He had disliked Henry intensely fro, introduced them to each other Their first conversation took the for to prove he wanted to be a friend, andthat he didn’t And he never changed his mind Anne ascribed her son’s resent of jealousy; William had been the centre of her life since Richard’s death Moreover, it was perfectly proper that in William’s estimation, no one could possibly take the place of his own father Anne convinced Henry that given tie

A=e Kame became Mrs Henry Osborne in October of that year at the Old North Church just as the golden and red leaves were beginning to fall, a little over ten ned illness in order not to attend the wedding and rerandmothers did attend, but were unable to hide their dis - approval of Anne’s ree, particularly to soer than herself ’It can only end in disaster,’ said Grand day, and did not return to the Red House on the Hill till the second week of December, just in time to welcome William home for the Christmas holidays Willia almost no trace of his father Over Christn of softening despite the present as Henry saw it - bribe as William construed it - of a new bicycle Henry Osborne accepted this rebuff with surly resignation It saddened Anne that her splendid new husband made so little effort to win over her son’s affection

William felt ill at ease in his invaded ho the day Whenever Anne inquired where be ’ was going, she received little or no response: it certainly was not to the grandmothers When the Christmas holidays came to an end, William was only too happy to return to school and Henry was not sad to see hio

Only Anne was uneasy about both the men in her rife

9

’Up, boy Up, boy’

One of the soldiers was digging his rifle butt into Wladek’s ribs He sat up with a start and looked at the grave of his sister and those of Leon and of the Baron, and he did not shed a single tear as he turned towards the soldier

’I will live, you will not kill me,’ he said in Polish ’This is my home, and you are on my land!

The soldier spat on Wladek and pushed hi, all dressed in what looked like grey pyjamas with nuht of the as about to happen to him He w~s taken by the soldier to the north side of the castle and round He felt a knife scrape across his head as his thick black hair fell on to the grass With ten bloody strokes, like the shearing of a sheep, the job was completed Shaven - headed, he was ordered to put on his new unifored to keep the silver band well hidden and rejoined his servants at the front of the castle

While they all stood waiting on the grass - numbers now, not names - Wladek became conscious of a noise in the distance that he had never heard before His eyes turned towards the ates ca on four wheels, but not drawn by horses or oxen All the prisoners stared at theobject in disbelief When it had coed the reluctant prisoners towards it and on turned round, ates Nobody dared to speak Wladek sat at the rear of the truck and stared at his astle until he could no longer see the Gothic turrets

The horseless wagon somehow drove itself towards Slonim Wadek would have worried about how the vehicle worked if he had not been even nise the roads from his days at school, but I - Lis eons, and he could not recall where the road finally led After only a few miles, the truck came to a stop and they were all pushed out It was the local railway station Wladek had only seen it once before in his life, when he and Leon had gone there to welcouard had saluted theuard saluted thee soup and black bread, Wladek again taking charge, dividing the portions carefully a fourteen He sat on a wooden bench, assuht they slept on the ground below the stars, paradise coeons He thanked God for the mild winter