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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hypersmurf" data-source="post: 3737052" data-attributes="member: 1656">Edward Granby, Junior Solicitor and British veteran of the Great War. The year is 1921.[sblock]1. When you were a lieutenant in the trenches of Ypres, how many of your men died? Why do you think you lived?When the order came through to go over the top, I froze up.  I simply couldn't summon the courage to charge into certain death.  After taking a moment to name me for the coward I was, my sergeant led my platoon towards the German trenches, and they were cut down to a man by machinegun fire and artillery.So my life was saved twice, that day.  If not for my cowardice, I'd have died with the rest of them.  And if the assault had succeeded, there would have been witnesses to that cowardice, and I'd have been shot.As it was, after being found lying amongst my dead after the battle, I was diagnosed as a case of shell concussion, won a wound stripe, and was sent back to Britain to recover.2. Why did the senior partners assign you to work on Sir Oliver Hume's estate?Miles Winton was Sir Oliver's solicitor for many years, but he was, unfortunately, recently committed.  It was necessary for the partners to replace him in a hurry; I was in the fortunate position of having few clients of my own, but recently having come to the partners' positive attention in a couple of small matters.  They deemed I had both the available time and the talent to be able to quickly assimilate Winton's outstanding tasks, and I inherited his client list - including Sir Oliver- at the same time.3. What was it about Hume that deeply disturbed you?I never knew the man while he was alive - after one exchange of brief letters to inform him of my taking over from Winton, my first contact was to be informed of his recent death.I've read some of Winton's notes about past services he performed for Sir Oliver, though, and there are... gaps.  There's something Winton knew,when he was advising Sir Oliver twenty years ago at the time of Artemis' death, that he never committed to writing.  But it horrified him.I've thought about going down to the Ironwood Institute to visit him, maybe get some answers.  But I don't believe he's allowed visitors.  And I can't shake this nagging whisper that maybe it was keeping it secret for twenty years that drove him over the edge...4. Have you killed anybody since you came back from the war?Absolutely not.I'd be terrified of getting caught - I don't know that I could survive prison.Hasn't stopped me spending hours thinking about it, though!5. Do you still have flashbacks?For the first few years, only on days ending in a Y...Less, now.  But I don't think I'll ever escape those memories.  In a way, those men died to save my life... but any one of them would spit on me for it.6. Do you consider yourself an ethical and respectable man?Of course I do!  I'm honest, and successful, and intelligent... what's not to respect?There's more to a man than facing enemy fire.  You can't define me solely in terms of the war - we aren't at war any more, damn it.  The soldiers are the ones who are out of place in today's England.  Not me.What gives you the right to judge me, anyway?  Were you there?  You can't know what it was like.  People use the word 'Hell' too freely.  Unless you were in those trenches, you don't know what it means.If you'd been there, you'd have done the same.  And it wouldn't make you any less 'respectable'.Stop looking at me like that.  I make more money than you do.7. Is your legal work shoddy?My legal work is impeccable, thank you.  I may have been a square peg in the first two round holes I tried, but I've found my square hole, and I'm good at my job.8. Do you resent men your age who didn't enlist during the war?Only in the way you resent anyone you envy.The stories work wonders with the ladies, and the pension doesn't hurt, but if I could go back and change it, I'd have found some way to stay out of the Army.9. You were going to be a doctor until the 'incident.'  What happened?It sounds a cliche, but Father's stockbroker absconded with all of his money.I couldn't afford to go to medical school and not be earning - I got the first job I could, and then the war came along, and Cassie somehow persuaded me to join the Army...10. How did you react when your fiancée broke off your engagement during the Great War?At the time?  Hardly at all, I think.  It was just one more reason to think God hated me.It hit me harder when I got home.  In all honesty, I think it's less the fact of not-marrying Cassie that bothers me, and more just the rejection. Looking back objectively, I can't really say we were suited to each other, and a marriage might have been a disaster.  But I can't forgive her for being the one to call it off.11. What do you take pride in?Pride?I know I do good work, but I don't know if I can say I feel pride in it. It's... a thing to do.I spend more time avoiding my past than facing it, so I don't think I can take pride in anything there.Maybe that's what it is that missing in my life - I don't really take pride in myself.12. Are you lonely?Yes and no.I don't have a lot of people I would honestly call 'friend', but I have plenty of acquaintances to spend time with.  No family, no wife, but there are women here and there.I'm not desperately lonely.  But there is room in my life for more.13. What is your secret indulgence?I've read a lot of penny dreadfuls and mystery novels, and fancy myself a fair amateur armchair detective.  But the secret part... I find I often admire the villain of the tale more than the hero.  The artistry that goes into constructing the almost-perfect murder, but for the one detail that trips them up.  And so my secret indulgence - for years, I have spent spare minutes dreaming up elaborate and foolproof ways to murder anyone who irritates me.   It's amazing the tricks you pick up in medical school!Of course, I've never been tempted to put any of my masterpieces into practice - it's all for fun, and besides... there's always that one detail.But it's something people might consider... morbid, or ghoulish.  Or worse, they might worry I'm plotting on how best to make their death look like an accident.  So it's a diversion I keep to myself.[/sblock]-----A lot of this didn't really come out in game - the hints of casual womanising were going to be aimed at Suzette, and then she died; the ex-fiancée story started to play, and was again derailed by assorted murders; the 'casual indulgence' never had a chance.  But the cowardice under fire - oh, that came out in spades.-Hyp.</blockquote>

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