Ivywood Manor felt changed after Victor and Lucille’s wedding. The couple had traveled to Venice when the celebration was over and planned to return in a few weeks’ time. Mr. van Kirk was grim again, as if the details of the wedding and nuptial journey had inflamed his health issues once more. He adamantly refused to see a doctor. Mrs. van Kirk was nearly as upsetting to be around. She felt the loss of her son more keenly now that he was married than ever before. She snapped at the servants, who approached her more frequently than they had when Victor was absent due to school or his travels.
I found that the most fitting solution to avoid general despair was to spend my free time away from others. I stood in the guest room in front of my Wardian case, removing old ferns and ivy that I’d o
