Chapter 22
Week 7, Instructor Calendar November 1898
We should be real first, and ornamental afterwards. ~Mrs. John Sherwood
That night, Concordia perched in the plush wingback chair in her sitting room, her favorite reading spot. The cottage had settled down hours ago. She struggled to keep her eyes open, despite the windowpanes rattling from the heavy winds. There would be a storm soon.
Where was Charlotte? She usually returned before curfew, also known as the “ten o’clock rule,” when students were required to turn out their lights and go to bed. Of course Charlotte was a faculty member now and not bound by the rule, but the lady was a creature of habit. She had not sent word of a delay in her plans.
She could hear Ruby’s heavy tread past her door, pacing between the kitchen and fro
