Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Praise for The House of Whispers
- Title Page
- Note to Readers
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twelve
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Five
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Two
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Eight
- Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
- Acknowledgements
- About the Publisher
Having someone save your life is a powerful thing, but there comes a point when you need to draw a line under it and move on. This was the mistake I’d made last time we lived together: I’d subsisted in Grace’s shadow, always believing that I owed her; always believing that I should be grateful to her – but she not only knew that, she took advantage of it. She knew how I felt, and she took that feeling and walked all over it. She used me. She abused me. My life was a constant battle against the nagging feeling that I was letting Grace down but I was an adult now. Married. I had to move on.
Thirty-Seven
Grace and I ate dinner at the kitchen table that night: I hadn’t done a shop so it was toasted cheese sandwiches. I’d cut the mould off the cheese before Grace got home. And off the bread.
‘Are you going to meet up with anyone else at any point?’ I asked her as I ate hungrily, the bright red ketchup oozing out the back and sides of my sandwich like blood. Grace was still in her white work shirt; I told her she was playing Russian roulette to eat ketchup in a white shirt but she didn’t seemed to care. ‘I’m the only one you’ve seen since you’ve been back.’
‘I wasn’t planning on it.’
‘But your other friends must be dying to see you? Luna, Steve?’ I struggled to think of the names of the medics she used to hang around with.
She shrugged. ‘Yeah. I guess.’
‘Why don’t you look them up and go for a long weekend or something? You’ve been working so hard.’
Grace put down her sandwich and looked at me. ‘Are you trying to tell me something?’
I gave myself a silent pep talk: be strong. ‘Rohan’s coming back for the weekend soon,’ I said as casually as I could. My palms were sweating. I really needed her to toe the line with this.
‘Oh lovely!’ Grace said. ‘I can’t wait to meet him.’ I didn’t reply. I just looked at her until she got it. ‘Oh,’ she said, slapping the table. ‘You don’t want me here – is that what this is about? The two lovebirds want some space? Am I right?’
Well, there is that, but I also don’t want you stealing him.
I smiled. ‘I hope you don’t mind. I haven’t seen him for weeks. You can meet him another time, once he’s back for good.’ I paused. ‘I’m happy to help pay for your train ticket.’
Grace pouted while she looked back at me with her eyes narrowed, then she smiled. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘If it means that much to you, I’ll get out of your hair when your hubbie comes home. Maybe I could go to a spa…’