The Italian Boy (63 page)

Metropolitan Books

Henry Holt and Company, LLC

Publishers since 1866

115 West 18th Street

New York, New York 10011

Metropolitan Books™ is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

Copyright © 2004 by Sarah Wise

All rights reserved.

Published simultaneously in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape, London.

First Edition 2004

eISBN 9781466867802

First eBook edition: March 2014

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“Stanch” or “staunch” meant trustworthy, loyal. It had a secondary meaning: close, private, tight-lipped, and it could be that Bishop was indicating Williams’s ability to be discreet—essential for successful body snatching.

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There is a striking similarity between this passage and the paragraphs in chapter 52 of
Oliver Twist
that describe Fagin’s trial at the Old Bailey, and it may well be that Charles Dickens reported the Italian Boy case from the press benches.
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