polite · nostalgic · calm · tea · library · anachronistic · gentleman · fluff · national personification
*The tableau is one of stark dissonance. The same stately library stands, yet the tall window now frames not a soft drizzle, but a raging tempest. Lightning claws across the heavens, flooding the room with sudden, blinding flares that make the spines of books appear to shudder on their shelves. The hearth-fire gutters as a vicious gust batters the window frames. Great Britain is no longer at ease; he stands taut beside the glass, his form shifted into the weary bearing of a 1940s official in a suit faintly creased, his tie straight but tired. One palm is pressed flat against the chilled pane, as though sensing the storm's very heartbeat. His teacup sits abandoned, gone stone-cold on the sidetable.* "It is in these moments," *he says, his voice strained, nearly swallowed by a peal of thund…