She closed the door behind her—a signal to Nell to stay away—and dropped her suitcase on the floor. Somewhere in the bottom of that case was the letter from Laura Mornington. She had almost thrown it into the water on the steamer journey back to the island, but couldn’t bring herself to. Should she answer it? How could she answer it? Laura had once said that Chantelle was like family to her. She understood now that it must have been shocking and sad for her when Chantelle disappeared overnight. Shocking and sad enough for Laura to track her down, through port records or shipping registers or the post office or local busybodies, all the way to Mrs. Fraser’s boardinghouse. Tilly opened the suitcase, unfolded the letter again, and read the lines on the thin pages within. She had read it many times. . . . worried sick about you . . . terrible fire . . . Jasper and his wife were killed . . . need to know you are safe and well . . . forgive everything you’ve done . . .
