She sat within the glow of the coals… their red heat penetrated the pores of her skin and warmed the white of her bones. She stared long and hard into the glass of whisky as if it were full of nettles… and finding no reason to swallow the liquid her mind moved over matters best… with gradient carefulness of an undertaker’s assistant.
A deleted scene from ‘The Shriving of Miss Esme Stamp’ by Patrick Callaghan
