Beyond the estate was an undulating field, broken up by off-shoots of wooded areas and colorless, barren orchards. The gardens attached to the estate, which had appeared lush the night before due to colorful artificial lights, were mostly stretches of winter shrubbery and crawling vines, stray plots of wild flowers flattened out until spring.
We met as a group in the back of the house, dressed in flannels. It felt as if we were costumed for a film, all part of our hosts increasingly eccentric concept of a theme party. The servants were dressed in red coats with brass buttons and English riding boots, which gave them a look of nobility. They were serving rounds of sherry and preparing the guns.
The artillery was laid out in two wagons each pulled by a horse and manned by a stable boy. I d
