things found in houses

'I see in the illustrated london news that miss kilvert of worcester had just given £300 to the clock and bells of the cathedral.'

so, on this day in 1870, frank kilvert's brother perch tells him of their aunt's death and bequest. this will cause much consternation in the kilvert family and begins an adventure that will last out until december 3rd, as the kilverts gather in worcester to attend her funeral and hear her will read. 

kilvert will travel up to worcester on december 1st and return to hay on his 30th birthday on the 3rd. 

as kilvert's editor william plomer notes in his introduction;

'one of the finest achievements in this part of the diary is his vivid account of the events following the death of maria kilvert at worcester... if it were a chapter in a novel on the same level that novel would be a masterpiece. there are crowd scenes, seascapes (?), conversation pieces, and a burlesque sermon equally well managed...' 

===================================================

horsemouth has finished reading practicalities (until next time).

there are a couple of pages about things found in houses, particularly the house in paris. the caracao - a woman's loose under blouse - jammed into the back a drawer and lost behind it for centuries in an antique chest of drawers. the round stones the portuguese workmen dug up in the basement. michel leiris thought they were part of some oil or wine press (possibly from the abbaye de st. laurent). some tortoise shell hairpins and a nit comb at the back of a cupboard. 

it's not that there aren't bad sentences. it's just that there are lots of good sentences 

'one day I thought that it had happened - that I'd never write again... suddenly I started to cry. it was clear to me... I'd probably never write anything anymore. it was all over. I really believed it, and can still remember the terrible grief I felt...'