“I can still see my baby’s body—in my mind. The doctor said I shall never have another. It was something they did.”
Charlotte moved at last. She walked around the coffin and closed the lid; then very gently she took Eloise’s hand, holding it in both her own.
“Are you going to tell the police?” Eloise said quietly.
“No.” Charlotte put her arms around her and held her hard, the sobs inside her struggling to get out. She must control herself. She took a deep breath. “No. He killed Mina—he would have been hanged for that anyway. It was wrong to kill him, but it’s done now. I shall never speak of it again.”
Slowly Eloise relaxed and let her head rest on Charlotte’s shoulder. At last, for the first time since she had seen the tiny body of her child, she began to weep.
For a long time, beyond counting, they stood together beside the closed coffin, letting the tears come, sharing the pain.
It was not until Inigo Charrington stood in the doorway, his eyes full of sympathy and affection, that at last Charlotte let go of Eloise.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1983 by Anne Perry
cover design by Jason Gabbert
978-1-4532-2230-0
This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media
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New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten