Mrs. Hale found me in the library the next morning. Her face was serious, and she spoke gently. “Miss Aurora, there’s news from the Sinclair house. Isadora’s condition has gotten much worse. The doctors are very concerned.”
I set my book down slowly, my stomach twisting. “Worse how?”
“They said it’s some kind of mysterious illness. She’s very weak now. They’re not sure how much time she has.”
The words hit me hard. I stood up, feeling unsteady. Isadora had been cruel for so many years, but there was still that small part of me that remembered the woman who used to bake cookies with me and read bedtime stories. The woman who had once felt like a mother.
“I need to see her,” I said when Lucian came down for breakfast. My voice shook. “Please, Lucian. Just one visit. I know she hurt me, b
