grave scene

She (Sarah Mile's character) actually fondles herself and caresses his lips with her hand; a symbol of extreme intimacy. It seemed somewhat touching, as opposed to gross, and a very powerful image.

Carmen,

This scandal in Kenya is something still talked about as if it were topical,
not only among British colonialists, but the English in the Home country. I
saw some of the movie a few years ago, and was struck by Sara Miles' somewhat
derranged characterization. She's the one who was jilted by Joss, and was a
strong suspect.
I came across the book, "White Mischief" and am reading it presently. It isn't a well-written story: it's neither a court case nor a who-done-it
mystery, only a recounting of the characters and their setting. Accordingly, I
believe that's what gives the movie its half-assed sensibility.
The scene that you refer to is shocking in its bland mention by the author:
"What he didn't record, but what Lezzard saw, was that before Alice put the branch of a small tree on Erroll's body, she kissed him on the lips, pulled the sheet back, smeared it with her vaginal juices and said, 'Now you're mine for ever.'
It fit her character, you see. Bizarre, shocking, necrophyliac - nonetheless it was a fitting gesture. She was alcoholic and a drug addict; she dominated
and she was of an unearthly beauty. Such people set their own standards. She
didn't answer to others. It was an aristocracy out of control.
Apparently there was an old joke among the English decades ago arising from
the hedonistic lifestyle at the time of the Erroll scandal: "Are you married, ...or do you live in Kenya...?"

It certainly grossed ME out.

Wow. and see, don't we all consider things differently!? This scene is the REASON I remember this film. I had never seen anything like that in my viewing career! Actually, I thought is was SO perfectly fitting to the story.