something and retreated to her room .
Adeline gave her enough time , and when she heard the door further up the hallway close , she put on her silk nightgown and her fur slippers , and , ghostlike , she crept across to Edward ’ s study . Crunch crunch . That noise again , so clear , so real , coming from inside the room . When Adeline opened the door , would she see him sitting in the gloom of the morning , chewing his toast , the light from his computer reflecting on his round-rimmed glasses ?
She had no other choice . She had left the study untouched , because Mrs Bunson had insisted . To throw away his books , his files and folders , would be to throw away his memory , to discard his life and everything he had been .
Everything he had been . Yes . Everything that still sat in the bones of this house . Down to the noise of his chewing . Crunch crunch . From behind the door , like wasps chewing their way out . What if she couldn ’ t stop it ? Would they crawl inside her and eat away at her as well ? To live a shell , filled with his nastiness , as it controlled her every move . How long could she last ?
She opened the door . The empty room stared back at her , unflinching . The noise rose like a chant from each row of books on the shelves that stood like sentinels against three of the walls .
Crunch crunch . Crunch crunch . Crunch crunch .
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