At the top of the stairs, we turned into what would become The Lord Cardigan Memorial Annex - a large room, containing one floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and, on the floor, crate upon crate of books.
My employer told me that the noble Lord had collected these books throughout his life and had, in his will, left them to the University. Given the nature of Lord Cardigan's demise (he had gone missing, together with his lover (his children's au pair), in a boating accident six years ago, leaving his wife (Lady Victoria) and family almost destitute), the collection was smaller than originally intended. Nevertheless, cataloguing approximately fourteen thousand books in less than four months would be quite a task.
It was a task that I relished, however, for the collection contained so many rare and original works. I took time to study the instructions set out in Lord Cardigan's will (these set out where each category should be placed on the shelves and also specified that none but the person cataloguing the books may visit the Annex until they were completely arranged). Despite the fact that I was often working sixteen or seventeen hours each day, my work captivated me in such a way that I hardly felt any fatigue. As the crates emptied and the collection took shape, I barely noticed that which would later be obvious to all.
Finally, on the seventh anniversary of his Lordship's disappearance, the grand opening of the Annex took place. Looking up at the finished work, the assembled dignitaries stood in silence, mouthing the words that were now spelled out by the spines the duly arranged books "Victoria - you fool! By the time you read this, I shall be watching a sunset on the beach."
2008-07-02 @ 14:39