TWENTY YEARS AGO…
Following the terrible carriage accident that claimed her parents' lives, seven-year-old Delaney was brought to live with her uncle Cole and his wife, Eunice.
The shock and the sheer, bloody horror of the accident had stolen Delaney's voice completely. She became entirely mute, retreating into a dark, silent shell, unable to speak a single word of her grief.
Eunice Kingsley viewed the silent, grieving orphan not as a tragedy to be pitied, but as a heavy, unwanted burden to be punished.
Almost immediately, the harsh realities of her new life began. Eunice dismissed several servants and forced their duties onto Delaney's small, fragile shoulders. She was made to scrub the cold floors, polish the heavy silver, and carry heavy buckets of water from the well.
When Delaney inevitably made mistakes—dropping an iron pan or failing to dust a high shelf she could not reach—Eunice's punishments were swift and incredibly cruel.
