The carousel glitters with beads, brocades, br velvet uniforms and brass buttons br swinging round the ballroom to the Viennese waltz. br The headless dead are raised br stiff in effigy as when they lived, br corseted, cosseted, their money buying all br except immortality. The assertive faces br that belong to these bejewelled mannequins br gaze disdainfully from the walls. br br The shadow in the kitchen br gossips cheerfully - only fourteen kilos br left to peel - her life here br preserved, recorded - br faceless she stands for all her sisters... br upstairs, headless and heedless, br the dancers revolve in a crystal world br that shattered long ago.