But no one at home had missed him. The Henley Street house was full of hurry and confusion when he arrived. No one noticed him. The neighbors came in and out, Mistress Sadler and Mistress Snelling, and the foreign doctor who would like to wed Ann, or passed on up to a room above, where little sister Annie, named for Ann Hathaway, lay dying of a sudden croup. And all since morning, since Will stole away. He knows this thing called Life, this deep inbreathing, this joy of Will Shakespeare cries out. He has touched little sister Annie's hand and it is cold. "This strange thing called Death...." |