She was sitting in her study with Christopher Southworth. He kept fingering his neck. She made a joke about the noose. He shook his head. ‘I have lost my crucifix. I took it off in your bed. Now I cannot find it. I took it off to make love to you.’ She kissed him as they sat either side of the fire. She had made up her mind. ‘I will leave for France with you, Kit.’ He looked at her in disbelief. She stood up. ‘I dreamed of Elizabeth Southern last night, if it was a dream – a nightmare. For the first time in a long time I feel afraid. It is as if she is coming for me.’ ‘Coming for you? From beyond the grave?’ ‘Or near to it.’ Alice was crying. Christopher tried to comfort her but she pulled away. ‘That night I told you about, at Elizabeth Southern’s house in Vauxhall, when I heard her voice say “She is the One”. I had no doubt that I was to be a sacrifice, though I did not know what kind of sacrifice. A hooded figure advanced towards me.
