“What’s wrong, Mary?” I asked gently, trying to remain calm. “You’ve been acting strange all week.”
With a soft cry, she threw herself into my arms. “Oh, Kathryn,” she wept bitterly. “My life is over.”
My lips parted as I held her close, a new thought gripping my heart. “Are you ... in trouble? In a family way?”
“No.” She shook her head and pulled back as she sank to her bed. “I wish it was that simple.”
I sat beside her and took her clammy hand, my worry increasing. Mary was a beautiful, accomplished, and popular young woman. Her bright and cheerful disposition banished the darkest clouds and brought comfort to those who knew her. I couldn’t think of a single person or situation that might bring her this much distress. “What in the world could be wrong?”
“I wish I could tell you, but if I did, you’d be in the same trouble, and I don’t want you to get hurt. I must leave. If I stay—” She paused and shook her head. “There is no other option.”
“I’m so confused,” I said, softly moving aside a tendril of hair that had stuck to her wet cheek, suspecting that she was only being dramatic. Surely, whatever was wrong could easily be mended. “Let’s wake Father and Mother—”
Her entire body stiffened. “I can’t waste another moment.” She rose and wiped her cheeks again, her hands trembling.
As I stared, she closed her satchel and reached for a dark shawl before opening her bedroom door and slipping into the hallway.
Alarm filled me as I realized she was being serious. I followed her and reached for her hand. “Stop this nonsense, Mary. It’s not safe out there for a single woman, especially at night.” The memory of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was still fresh in my mind, though a fictional book was nothing compared to the realities of life on the streets of London. The Wilton Crescent neighborhood was safeenough, but we weren’t far from Hyde Park, and we’d been warned since we were young not to wander there, especially toward dark.
Mary looked small and frightened yet determined as she pulled free of my hand and walked down the steps. She didn’t hesitate on the second floor near our parents’ bedroom doors, nor did she try to be quiet. I paused, hoping Father or Mother would hear and come out to stop her.
But they didn’t, and Mary was soon at the front door.
I ran down the steps. “This is madness, Mary. You must tell me what’s happening.”
She paused only long enough to give me another hug, and then she said, “Good-bye, Kathryn. Don’t forget that I love you.”
I reached for her hand again, but she pulled away, and then I watched helplessly as she walked out the front door. Alone.
My heart hammered as I tried to decide whether to follow her or go to my parents.
It didn’t take long to choose. I ran up the steps to my father’s bedroom door and pounded hard, doing something I would not have done under any other circumstance.
I entered his room unbidden.
He stood near the front window, still dressed in his evening clothes, looking down at the street.
“Father,” I said as I joined him at the window. “Mary has just—”
“She is dead to us.” He turned away from the window, his shoulders stiff with resolve. “I never want to hear her name mentioned again.”
I stepped back, as if I’d been struck. What in the world was happening? “But—”
“Never again, Kathryn,” he said in a loud voice, slicing his hand in the air with finality. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or afraid, but his face had a fierce expression. “If you don’t want to end up like her, I advise you to forget all about her. I do not want her name uttered in this house ever again.”
“Forget?” Tears stung my eyes as I reached for his arm. “Howcan I forget my little sister? She’s on the street, Father. You must call her back, or she could get hurt.”
He pulled his arm away from my grasp and went to his door to open it. His gaze was hard as he said, “This is my last warning, Kathryn. Do not ask any more questions.”
My legs were weak, and my stomach turned with dread as I left his room. I raced down the stairs and returned to the foyer, desperate to catch up to Mary and talk some sense into her.
But when I opened the door and stepped onto the street, I was met with nothing but darkness and the swirling mist.
Mary was already gone.
2
London, England
