whisper Beneath the silk

-

Two: The

smelled of lav

hat overlooked the restless sea, its gray waves chewing at the cliffside like teeth gnawing bone. The ceiling stretched high above her,

d draped in gauze that fluttere

iting desk of inlaid rosewood. A tall mirror with a frame of carved onyx. A claw-foot tub near the hearth, ha

note in the same calli

n. The dressing room is b

no name. N

e heard faint footsteps in the hallway after midnight-deliberate and slow, as though

-

ight filtered thr

k at h

nding there-late thirties, pale as porcelain, dressed in a un

id. "I'll be escorting y

ked. "You'r

ite reach her eyes. "I

alking without waiting

hollow eyes, through a narrow passage lit by wrought ir

and no visible windows. Yet somehow it wasn't dark. Candlelight flickered in wall-mounted candelabra

t the threshold,

d bell skirts, high collars and delicate lace overlays, gloves sewn with seed pearls, veils that looked like spider

begin?" Evel

insisted the collection be maintained in silence. Mus

hy

again. "The gow

, the door clicki

-

so black they seemed to drink the light. Its hem was stiff with dust, and the lace collar had frayed into ga

the age or fragility of the gown-it was the weight of it, the presence.

rcase. She was pale, hair pinned back, smudges of fatigue beneath her eyes. But what unsettl

d, the mannequ

air felt

-

that crackled softly. The meal was exquisite-veal in a wine reduction, root vegeta

me to spe

aric Thorne since

er, Evelyn

e and echoing like a tomb. In one room she discovered a library with towering shelves and spiral ladders; in another, a conservatory sealed with f

cked door carved w

n the brass knob.

ard it-bare

. Faint

forge

ound, heart

ne t

-

n dreamed of a gi

obscured by a silk veil. She held something in her hands-a bouquet of lil

ad

ad

ad

eil of her dream still c

aced a fresh lily

-

ay brought m

been hand-stitched over another line of thread-older, sloppier, meant to conceal. She unpi

a phot

air dark, her dress striped with buttons down the front. And behind

photo, a single lin

t fall. He

re-sealed the pocket and tucked t

she ste

berate. She no longer believed these were coincidences. Someone ha

ns-each one

scent of perfume. The ghost

t garments. They

-

Evelyn finally

where the firelight painted his sharp features in

threshold, unsure w

"You've foun

room. "You left those no

I seem the type to sew

ow what typ

agreed. "

rossed her arms. "Who

ed. "A wife. A c

not an

only one I

between them like

dark. "You should be careful, Miss Roth. Cu

. "And silence is neve

cross his face. Appro

e said softly. "But some

light, the flames throwing shadows like

-

turned to the dressin

made her way to the gown at the very center-the o

he case slowly, the scent hitting

touch the s

ed the pedestal an

of the inner lining, a thread of

Isad

Li

back, chi

Another voice.

had begu

was li

-