Chance put the widower next to the widow. Or maybe chance had nothing to do with it, for the story began on All Souls. Be that as it may, the widow was already there when the widower tripped, stumbled,

On All Saints’ Day, 1940, Grandfather went to the cemetery with his daughter Marthe, whose firstborn son lies under a bed of white gravel, a tiny Flying Dutchman sailing into the uncharted mists of the beyond,

It’s true, I open the door, I see them ... they create order . . . order! ... they clear the landing ... and our room ... and the toilet ... everybody out, let’s go! ... down the stairs! nobody left on our floor ... have they come to arrest me ? ... that’s my first idea ...