17/02/2026 07:18

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You know her. In the nursery. They'dbeen coming for Granddad for years, you see. She said without saying what he had notallowed himself even to think: His imagination and his longing hadcreated the bond he'd believed he'd had with Eugenie.

She has no name other than'your American' although sometimes she becomes 'your little American'or 'your charming American'. And you don't have anypictures of her, do you? So how would you even remember what shelooked like? She was there, he said dully. Sounded angry, sheadded and tapped her biro meditatively against the paper. Wresting the truthfrom your father will take you one step closer to understanding what?To understanding what has happened to me.