A small turf fire in the grate provided Meg’s room with a dim glow. After closing the door quietly, she tried to unfasten Annie’s garnet necklace, on loan for the weekend, but couldn’t.
She undressed quickly, replacing undergarments with a simple white nightgown and her new dressing gown of a robin’s-egg blue, purchased for the weekend stay. Carrying the old battered leather suitcase to the carved bench at the base of the sizeable bed, she snapped it open and planned an early escape.
She regretted the need for the escape as she switched on the electric light in the bathroom—a beautiful room with white ceramic toilet and sink, large claw-footed bathtub with gleaming fittings, and luxuriously thick towels folded and perfectly aligned on the shelving. Fresh bars of soaps filled the air with
