whisper Beneath the silk
-
Five:
read s
le sound-but it echoed thro
r needle quivered in her grip, glinting in the candlelight. She had returned to the dressing room at dawn, un
m was w
was unra
felt Lilian's breath on her skin, heard the whisper of silk over stone, smelled the gh
ick
like a corpse at the foot of the hidden door. She worked carefully, a
ved stitch, th
e. At first, Evelyn thought they were stray tailoring
rd
me
te
rd, 1862
h, 1870 -
12th, 1894
d into the folds
s of
s of
sewn into
r mouth tasted like iron. She backed away fr
sn't haunted
haunted
left their story
-
she no longer flinched from them. The manor was waking-she could feel it. Floors creaked behind her where no one walked. Mirrors breathed con
rner-and collid
verie. His hands caught her shoul
she said,
ce. "You look pale. Have y
art of the gown. There were names
mly. "The hou
" she asked. "T
n ways no one could explain. But every time it happened, a new gown appeared in the dre
ce cracked.
first the house chose. Or the
things. Evelyn searched his face. There was something frac
ppening again,"
er gaze.
whispere
-
few day
steps of those who had vanished. She followed narrow stairwells that ended in bricked walls. Opened doors that led onl
ight-she
wn told
ng dress, only to be buried in it weeks later. A governess with t
s scr
a singer who never took her final bow. A christening dress with a
nal, tracing threads of history t
egan to f
kin. Her
e of the ma
tained faintly with crimson-though ther
was sewi
-
art of the estate she had not yet explored. It had been
oated every su
Isadora
es were obscured. Slashed canvas. Shat
ra Th
stared
rls tight at her throat. Her smile was
er hand-
d than any she'd seen. Almost... too much so. Her
aggere
rtrait had
velyn turned away-an
had been
s of unused fabric. At the center sat a half-finished dr
ide it-
he tried to save her. She tried to save herself. B
ir of silver embroidery s
caught in the m
wasn'
stood
stant. W
th
blin
o
-
velyn returne
ng, as if he kne
her," s
ded. "
Isa
han I ever did. She stitched wards into her clothing. Burned p
u stayed,"
did
silence for
said, "Com
lyn hadn't noticed before. It wound downward, behind
a chamber that pulsed
den a
g ledgers. And in the center-a sin
ded it
ian
ned it
sses, but beneath each drawing, she had wr
was beautiful w
e best when
o free me. Sh
teeth. And I was
closed
ldn't b
. "There's a room no one speaks of. Bene
s down
ed. "The f
-
Evelyn dre
h centuries of silence. The walls were raw
tood bes
ted to a
-a wedd
e veil covered the face of the mannequin,
iv
it
Lilian whispered. "
ached for
s of the dre
-
oke at
burned agai
as t
idden passage, back in
form sti
wore a diff
fina
Veiled.
had not t
rors fl
Evelyn now
own
ot he
the bodice
t like
echoed fro
nish
ed her s
egan
-