He kept his head down, his notebook in his hand, and Grace reminded herself not to let her gaze follow him too often. Elizabeth and Nell had stuck by her the entire day, explaining that their duties—Nell’s in the laundry and Elizabeth’s in the kitchen—had been excused so that Grace could be shown around the asylum and grounds. “Ye’ve got perfect freedom here, as long as ye be’ave,” Nell had explained. “There’s nae even locks on the bedroom doors.” “As long as you behave,” Elizabeth had added archly, raising an eyebrow at Nell, who had smiled wickedly. The warmth she’d accrued from the sun in their afternoon walk was escaping her skin now, but Grace could still feel the benefits from it, as if her body had remembered in that short afternoon what it was to be alive. The presence of the other girls had its own effect, and Grace felt a smile tugging at her mouth as she remembered Nell unabashedly laying claim to Elizabeth’s dessert that evening as they ate together in the women’s ward.
What do You think about A Madness So Discreet (2015)?
