With all the time we'd spent together I'd really grown attached to Marion. She was just so beautiful, always dressed in elegant gowns and carrying herself with such class. Her age only added to her worldly sophistication, making her all the more alluring. Perhaps it was my own lack of travel and knowledge of the world that made her seem so mysterious and made me so blind.
The day it happened, I'd stopped in for a visit. Well, more than a visit, I wanted to know if she felt the same way towards me as I'd come to feel towards her. It wasn't until I suggested the possibility of something happening between her and myself that the mystery was lifted and I truly saw her. I came, in an instant, to realize just how patronizing her kindness really was. Her tenderness was that which you might show to a dog or a cat. That was how she thought of Bill and I, like pets. In fact I think that was how she thought of most people. When I realized that, my temper just flew. The combination of her reaction and the heat caused me to ... she shouldn't have laughed.
It must have been the heat of that day which caused Bill to take off his coat when he was in for tea and forget it on the back of that chair. She'd grabbed a hold of it on the way to the ground. That was how they found her. The blood had turned her beautiful blond hair to crimson. Her expensive gown was torn and the Oriental rug was ruined. The look on her face was strangely calm especially considering how twisted her body lay. Bill's coat was so tightly clenched in her hand that it looked as though she had ripped it right off his back.
Of course I didn't realize it was his coat, not until they came looking for him had it dawned on me. I knew that Bill didn't have a chance if they caught him, so I did what any good friend would do. I got him out of there. Knowing that Bill wouldn't be able to look after himself, I decided I should go with him.