The topic of my current read.
“The babies were named Agnes and Dora, and christened by Harald in the chapel. By then they had faces. Identical faces, identical mouths opening at identical moments, identical cheekbones and blue eyes. They resembled Harald himself, they had bred true to stock. They had a faint white down on their pulsing little heads. ‘Like cygnets,’ William said to Eugenia, when he found himself, unusually, sitting beside her in the parlour when the nursemaid brought the babies down for their daily visit to their mother. ‘You are like swansdown and they are like cygnets. They don’t seem to resemble me at all.’ Eugenia, muffled in silk shawls, put out a hand from amongst them and took his. ‘They will, you know,’ she said, with a new matronly wisdom. ‘I’ve seen ever so many babies, they change from week to week, even from day to day. Resemblances run across their little faces like clouds, papa today, grandpapa tomorrow, Aunt Ponsonby on Tuesday and great-grandmama at Friday dinner-time. It’s because they’re so soft, the dears, so plastic, you’ll suddenly see your own chin on Agnes and one or other of your grandmothers smiling out of Dora’s eyes, if you’re patient.’ ‘I’m sure you are right,’ said William, noticing with surprise and pleasure that the little round hand was still in his, that the soft fingertips were still in his palm.”
— Angels & Insects: Two Novellas (Vintage International) by A. S. Byatt
Yes. I’ve seen the film. I know what is to come.
