pocket and popped it beneath my tongue.
“Lily is such a sweet soul…” she commented, still not looking at Quincey. “So trusting …” She flashed me a glance I felt was laced with meaning. It had the effect of sharpening my concern.
Captain Harker—Quincey—anticipated my worries. “I’m sure you have noticed, John, that your sister and I have very quickly become dear friends. I hope you do not find our familiarity distasteful. It is Lily who insists upon it. I believe she is glad to finally be close with someone.”
I allowed myself to relax. Once again, Quincey assured me that he harboured only the most appropriate feelings for my sister.
Mary snatched the thermometer from my mouth, shook it sharply, and looked straight at Quincey. “Shall you be returning to the front soon, Captain Harker?” she queried.
I was surprised and confused by her sharp tone. What could she find so distressing about our conversation?
“For the time being, I remain on special duty in England,” Quincey told her politely.
“And you intend to remain at the hall with Lily?” Mary’s question sounded blunt to the point of rudeness.
“Of course he should remain at the hall,” I interjected,keen to smooth over the bristling tension between them. I stared at Mary’s hard expression, struggling to understand her actions. Perhaps she was disconcerted by Quincey’s interruption of our intimate moment. Or perhaps—
“Miss Seward!” Sister’s voice rang out across the ward. “I think you have spent enough time with the lieutenant this morning. There are other patients who need your attention.”
“Yes, Sister.” Mary bowed her head, pocketed her thermometer, and walked away, forgetting to record my temperature on my chart. It was most unlike her.
PURFLEET CHRONICLE
16TH OCTOBER 1916
B ODY RECOVERED FROM RIVER
The body of one Dora Hughes was dragged from the river last night just outside the Carfax estate. Miss Hughes had been working as a maid at Carfax Hall. There were no evident injuries to the body apart from a scratch at the neck, deemed insignificant by the coroner. It is assumed she drowned after having imbibed too much alcohol. Miss Agnes Hughes, sister of the deceased, told the police that the two of them had spent the previous evening at the nearby Dog and Duck public house. “It was her one eveningoff a week; why shouldn’t she enjoy herself?” the distraught Miss Hughes said. “That vinegar-faced housekeeper at the hall worked poor Dora ragged. Pale as a ghost she was.
“We left the Dog and Duck at closing time and Dora was going to walk back to the hall along the river like she always did. That was the last I seen of me poor departed sister,” Miss Hughes sobbed.
On further investigation, Dora Hughes’s name has been brought into question. The housekeeper at Carfax Hall has let it be known that jewellery found on Miss Hughes’s body belonged to her employer, Miss Lily Shaw.
Journal of
Lily Shaw
16TH
O CTOBER 1916
Dear Mother and Father,
I am filled with sorrow at the news of Dora Hughes’s death. The poor girl is dead. Drowned.
Antanasia showed no pity at the news. “We can find another maid,” she said coldly. “One who is more honest.”
“More honest?” I looked at her in surprise.
Antanasia informed me of Dora’s thievery. I rushed upstairs to my jewellery box and saw that one of my ruby earrings was missing. So it was true. I had come to think of Dora as a member of our household, and she had been stealing from us all along!
That evening, when I told Quincey of the matter, he bristled with rage. “That girl deserves a worse end—for taking what is not hers and for daring to do so underneath my nose.”
I was surprised by his anger at first, but Quincey’s harsh sentiment springs from his own guilt. I am certain that he feels partly to blame for the loss of my earring. As we have shared intimacies, he has grown quite protective of me.
I care not about jewellery, but I pity
“Lily is such a sweet soul…” she commented, still not looking at Quincey. “So trusting …” She flashed me a glance I felt was laced with meaning. It had the effect of sharpening my concern.
Captain Harker—Quincey—anticipated my worries. “I’m sure you have noticed, John, that your sister and I have very quickly become dear friends. I hope you do not find our familiarity distasteful. It is Lily who insists upon it. I believe she is glad to finally be close with someone.”
I allowed myself to relax. Once again, Quincey assured me that he harboured only the most appropriate feelings for my sister.
Mary snatched the thermometer from my mouth, shook it sharply, and looked straight at Quincey. “Shall you be returning to the front soon, Captain Harker?” she queried.
I was surprised and confused by her sharp tone. What could she find so distressing about our conversation?
“For the time being, I remain on special duty in England,” Quincey told her politely.
“And you intend to remain at the hall with Lily?” Mary’s question sounded blunt to the point of rudeness.
“Of course he should remain at the hall,” I interjected,keen to smooth over the bristling tension between them. I stared at Mary’s hard expression, struggling to understand her actions. Perhaps she was disconcerted by Quincey’s interruption of our intimate moment. Or perhaps—
“Miss Seward!” Sister’s voice rang out across the ward. “I think you have spent enough time with the lieutenant this morning. There are other patients who need your attention.”
“Yes, Sister.” Mary bowed her head, pocketed her thermometer, and walked away, forgetting to record my temperature on my chart. It was most unlike her.
PURFLEET CHRONICLE
16TH OCTOBER 1916
B ODY RECOVERED FROM RIVER
The body of one Dora Hughes was dragged from the river last night just outside the Carfax estate. Miss Hughes had been working as a maid at Carfax Hall. There were no evident injuries to the body apart from a scratch at the neck, deemed insignificant by the coroner. It is assumed she drowned after having imbibed too much alcohol. Miss Agnes Hughes, sister of the deceased, told the police that the two of them had spent the previous evening at the nearby Dog and Duck public house. “It was her one eveningoff a week; why shouldn’t she enjoy herself?” the distraught Miss Hughes said. “That vinegar-faced housekeeper at the hall worked poor Dora ragged. Pale as a ghost she was.
“We left the Dog and Duck at closing time and Dora was going to walk back to the hall along the river like she always did. That was the last I seen of me poor departed sister,” Miss Hughes sobbed.
On further investigation, Dora Hughes’s name has been brought into question. The housekeeper at Carfax Hall has let it be known that jewellery found on Miss Hughes’s body belonged to her employer, Miss Lily Shaw.
Journal of
Lily Shaw
16TH
O CTOBER 1916
Dear Mother and Father,
I am filled with sorrow at the news of Dora Hughes’s death. The poor girl is dead. Drowned.
Antanasia showed no pity at the news. “We can find another maid,” she said coldly. “One who is more honest.”
“More honest?” I looked at her in surprise.
Antanasia informed me of Dora’s thievery. I rushed upstairs to my jewellery box and saw that one of my ruby earrings was missing. So it was true. I had come to think of Dora as a member of our household, and she had been stealing from us all along!
That evening, when I told Quincey of the matter, he bristled with rage. “That girl deserves a worse end—for taking what is not hers and for daring to do so underneath my nose.”
I was surprised by his anger at first, but Quincey’s harsh sentiment springs from his own guilt. I am certain that he feels partly to blame for the loss of my earring. As we have shared intimacies, he has grown quite protective of me.
I care not about jewellery, but I pity
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