9 .sx The House .sx It wasn't far from where he lived , just a stop further on the tube , but he'd not been to the area before .sx Nor , from the look of it , had the developers .sx No wonder it's cheap , he thought .sx The first thing he saw when he came out of the station was an antiquated sign on a lamppost saying , " Stand for 6 licensed hackney cabs " .sx No cabs , of course , hackney or otherwise .sx Just a tired row of shops opposite and a seedy-looking pub on the corner and a disused laundry with boarded-up windows and a For Sale notice .sx It felt closer to Dickens's London than to Preston's .sx But perhaps that was the fog .sx Not quite the fog of Dickens , or even his own childhood .sx They'd cleaned it up since then and taken the soot out .sx The poisons it contained were less visible now .sx But it was still a proper fog , a city fog , with a whiff of brimstone in it , a hint of the old buildings and hung in the doorways and fled in ragged wisps from the car headlights .sx He turned right out of the station , according to William's instructions , and then right again , and saw the viaduct .sx Come and look at the place , William had said , it's like everyone's dream of a Victorian childhood .sx And here it was , the nightmare .sx It spanned the road ahead , the brickwork streaked with dark tears and three black holes in the middle , one for the traffic and two smaller ones on each side for pedestrians , and they looked to Preston like mouths , or nostrils breathing fog .sx It was the monster of his infancy , lying in wait for him all these years , or a warning sign , saying , Go Back , make your excuses and leave , exert your free will .sx .. But he was older now and in another city , and besides , the wench was dead .sx So he shook off the ghosts and walked on , his footsteps muffled by the fog , shivering from a chill that wasn't just in the air , until the nearest mouth engulfed him .sx It was a real Fanny-by-gaslight relic of the old city , redolent of gin and vomit and brutal crimes , and the fog had crept in like an old friend and made a dripping urinal of the walls .sx Only the graffiti was on the present , but even that had its roots in ancient hatreds .sx Troops Out of Ireland .sx Keep Britain White .sx Bring Back Hanging .sx .. They should never have abolished it , hanging's too good for him .sx A life sentence .sx He'll be out in ten years .sx .. Committed to an asylum for the criminally insane .sx .. .sx For a moment he thought he saw a figure at the far end , waiting , but that was from the nightmare , too , just a trick of the light and the fog .sx There was a significant improvement on the other side of the viaduct , a Victorian class divide that had survived the years , and within two blocks he was walking down a tree-lined avenue composed of tall , detached houses set back from the road behind fair-sized gardens .sx He could see from the number of bells beside each door that they'd nearly all been turned into flats now , or dentists' surgeries , and some were in urgent need of renovation , but they still retained some of their former grandeur , or was it pretension ?sx The make-believe pomp and affected circumstance of the people for whom they'd been built , the doctors and lawyers and merchants and administrators of Empire who all , in one way or another , made their money out of trade but built houses like miniature castles , or palaces , to reassure themselves that they were closer to the Barons than to the Peasants , and safe from both .sx Preston was fascinated by them .sx As a very young child he had learned to read from picture books that showed children living in houses like these , in nurseries with sloping ceilings and toy yachts and teddy bears on the floor and solid Papas and gentle Mamas and a view through the window of rooftops and spires , and if there was a cloud across the moon it was in the shape of a sailing ship .sx As an adolescent and well into his twenties he had affected to despise the whole fairy tale - the people , the properties , the false virtues , the false security it represented .sx But now he was of an age and living in an era whose insecurities craved the reassurance of nursery images , the illusory solidity of Victorian values which , if they had never existed , could always be invented .sx He was confused by a barrage of conflicting ideologies .sx The sneer had turned into a lump in his throat .sx The contempt into envy .sx The house that William had found was down one of the side streets and not so majestic , but it still had a fair bit of the Gothic about it , and the brass knocker on the front door had the face of an ogre .sx Preston lifted it and knocked .sx Kate answered the door but he heard William's voice , shouting down the stairs .sx " Is that Preston ?sx Come in , shut the door on the fog .sx " .sx It evoked some distant memory but he couldn't quite pin it down .sx He stepped into the hall .sx " Bloody hell , " he said .sx " Take some heating , this .sx " .sx He stamped his feet on the tiled floor .sx Original by the look of it , and so were the banisters , but someone had painted them a kind of snot green .sx " What do you think of it ?sx " William bounced down the stairs , a grinning schoolboy again , and he could hear other voices somewhere in the upper reaches .sx " He hasn't seen it yet , " complained Kate .sx " Give him a chance .sx " .sx " He's seen the outside .sx Wait until you see the fireplaces .sx " .sx Preston couldn't remember when he'd last seen him so enthusiastic about anything .sx " Wait until you see the soot , " said a sardonic but unseen voice , and then a woman emerged from one of the downstairs rooms off the hallway .sx Preston stopped stamping his feet .sx She was stunning .sx She had tawny blonde hair down to her shoulders and a rather thin face with high cheekbones and a wide mouth .sx She wore a leather coat and boots and his first thought was that she looked Slavonic , a Russian or a Pole .sx His second was that she was from the estate agent's .sx His third that he was in love .sx But he was mistaken .sx She wasn't Russian or Polish , she wasn't from the estate agent's , and if he was in love , it was the worst mistake of all .sx " This is Tess , " said William .sx " Louis' upstairs with the kids .sx " .sx Her handshake was cool and firm and her eyes were grey .sx But Preston had stopped looking .sx " They're bloody choosing the rooms already , " said another voice , deep and loud , and from somewhere above ceiling level , and Preston looked up and saw the man who must be Louis , hanging over the banisters on the landing .sx Was this the ogre ?sx Preston's glance took in the broad shoulders , a black beard a lean , dark face and a big nose .sx " Bit premature , isn't it ?sx " said Tess .sx And there was a small , uncomfortable silence , or so Preston imagined , and a chill in the air , but that could have been real .sx " Preston , Louis , " said William , and he was half bent at the waist , like a supplicant monk , rubbing his hands and smiling , nervously .sx He is nervous , Preston thought , he wants us to like each other .sx Louis came bounding down the stairs .sx He was as tall as William and half as wide again , and he exuded a genial , gregarious energy .sx He looked at closer quarters , less of an ogre , more like a Victorian explorer , but was this an improvement ?sx And yet Preston did like him , instinctively , and without his usual reserve .sx More than that , he wanted Louis to like him , but he didn't know why .sx " Come and look at the fireplaces , " said William , and they filed dutifully into the room Tess had just come out of .sx Preston looked at the fireplace .sx A steel grate like a suit of armour , a long time unsquired , and what looked like a tile and marble surround , it was difficult to tell , the snot-green artist had been busy here , too .sx " We'd be able to have coal fires , " said Kate .sx " They only allow smokeless fuel these days , " said Preston .sx He knew what he was doing but was incapable of stopping it .sx It was the same thing that made him physically shrink into his scarf and his leather jacket .sx He felt he was being drawn out of his comfortless hole into something altogether more vast and impressive and alarming .sx " Well ?sx " said William , when they'd seen it all and adjourned to the pub opposite the station , an old witing room of a pub that had not yet been converted into a wine bar or a theme park and was consequently empty .sx The three children were at a separate table , grudgingly tolerated by the landlord .sx " Well it's .sx .. big , " said Tess .sx " Big ?sx " thundered Louis .sx " Is that all you can say ?sx It's fantastic .sx " .sx " Fourteen rooms , three bathrooms , a hundred-foot south-facing garden .sx .. " William intoned .sx " You sound like an estate agent , " said Tess .sx William looked stricken .sx Tess relented .sx " Sorry , but it's a bit .sx .. overwhelming , really .sx The work we'd have to do .sx " .sx " That's why it's so cheap , " said Louis .sx " My God , woman , you were the one who said we needed more space .sx " .sx " I said we needed a playroom for the kids and a bit more garden - not a damn great manse at the arse-end of the Northern line with its own private wilderness .sx .. " .sx " Where's your sense of adventure ?sx " .sx " I exhausted it on you , darling .sx " .sx Preston kept his head down and his nose in the beer .sx " So , I take it we look elsewhere , " said Kate , flatly .sx She sounded disappointed .sx " Is it the house - or the whole idea ?sx " William demanded .sx He looked so crestfallen Preston felt sorry for him .sx He wished he could say something encouraging , but he didn't feel encouraged .sx He was on Tess's side .sx She sat crumbling a beer mat between her fingers .sx She looked more out of place in the shabby pub than any of them .sx " I really like it , " said Kate plaintively .sx " I think we could do an awful lot with it .sx And think of the advantages of sharing .sx Sharing the shopping , babysitting .sx .. " .sx " Decorating ?sx " said Tess .sx " Mending the roof ?sx " .sx " We'd get builders to do that .sx " .sx " Oh God , you mean we'd have to live with builders as well ?sx " .sx " There's nothing wrong with the roof , " said William .sx " Not as far as I know .sx .. " .sx " Anyway , I think we should be more positive , " said Kate .sx " We have to make it work .sx " .sx " Maybe it's just the fog , " said Preston .sx " And seeing it at night .sx .. " .sx But no one was listening .sx " She's just a bloody pessimist , " said Louis .sx " Always looks on the dark side .sx I think it's great .sx I think the house is great , I think the idea's great .sx My God , we're all victims in this fucking city .sx They're all out to screw us .sx Plumbers , builders , estate agents , the government , the council , bloody thieves .sx .. We've got to fight back .sx Otherwise we're just prey .sx " .sx Preston stared at him in astonishment .sx Anyone less like prey he couldn't imagine .sx He looked as if he'd make a Rottweiler pause for thought .sx " Consumers , " said Kate , with a shrug , " that's what we are .sx And they use the whole sham of our so-called individualism to make it easier to manipulate us .sx Buy what they want us to buy , live the way they want us to live .sx We have to learn how to live collectively again .sx I know it's not exactly fashionable at the moment , but it's the only hope we've got .sx " .sx " Exactly , " said Louis .sx " Collective security .sx Fuck the bastards .sx Especially burglars .sx " .sx He banged the table with his fist and the glasses jumped and the drink spilled .sx The landlord glared .sx Preston wondered where the burglars came into it .sx His face must have registered his confusion .sx " We had a break-in last year , " said Tess .sx " That's what this is all about really .sx " .sx " Bollocks !sx " .sx Tess was undaunted .sx " The house is full of weapons , " she complained .sx