Since 1980, "Salisbury" has been "Harare" in the independent country of Zimbabwe. Many of the privileged English settlers, unwilling to live under black majority rule, have returned to England.
‘The natives are L-A-Z-Y,’ she says, barely pausing as she stirs her Earl Grey. The letters fall, like pebbles, into a chasm, waiting for impact. Or for the plate of Huntley & Palmers to be passed around. A cricket ratchets up the afternoon while meager figures crouch above herbaceous borders, hacking at something. Jacaranda, frangipani, bougainvillea… the garden is overwhelmed by its inventory. Back in the paneled hall, the grandfather clock has been counting down to the apocalypse since 1895. It can wait for another decade or two.
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