chapter 16 : mortal rage when i have seen by time 's fell hand defac 'd the rich-proud cost of outworn buried age ; when sometime lofty towers i see down-raz 'd , and brass eternal slave to mortal rage -shakespeare , `` sonnet 64 '' it was a peculiar experience walking the streets of london as a boy , tessa thought as she made her way along the crowded pavement of eastcheap .