About this story
The kind guard lifted her down at the junction and arranged her luggage for the Nettleby line. You step into this one-chapter preview with Miss Delves at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. I must face the stern stranger whose house received me without a carriage at the station. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
How it opens
An express carried eleven-year-old Anne Hereford north in mourning, alone except for a guard's occasional care.
The kind guard lifted her down at the junction and arranged her luggage for the Nettleby line.
Kind GuardEat something before the next train; my colleague knows where you must leave it.
I thanked him with a handshake because kindness deserved more than a frightened nod.
Choose
Begin with a sandwich before the plum tart.
Keep one tart for the second train.