The sun finally set completely. The sky turned a deep, dark purple, and then a heavy black.
The house servants moved through the halls, lighting the candles in the wall sconces.
It was already evening. The quiet, dull ringing of the dinner bell echoed up the staircase.
Delaney stood up from her chair. She walked over to her small washbasin, poured a little cold water from the pitcher, and washed her face. She smoothed the wrinkles from her dress. She prepared her mind for a quiet, tense dinner with her aunt Eunice and her cruel cousin.
She unlocked her door and stepped out into the hallway.
The house was quiet, but it was a heavy, suffocating kind of quiet. She walked slowly down the sweeping marble staircase. The candlelight flickered against the walls, creating long, dancing shadows.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and turned toward the grand foyer, intending to cross the hall and enter the dining room.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
