Something inside Lou sank. This world she was in may not be real, but the people who had welcomed her so warmly had been, once. If only she didn’t know quite so much about the history of Hill House. At least then she wouldn’t know that the demise of this proud man, barely two weeks after war was declared, was to sound the death knell for his entire family. Hill House Primary had spared its pupils the exact circumstances of Captain Mandeville’s death – they were only taught that he had died a “hero” – but he looked just the type of man who would throw himself into battle and revel in bravado and glory, without a thought to the result. And in his haste to show off his military prowess, he would start a chain reaction, which nobody could stop. The downfall of the Mandeville family rested squarely on the broad shoulders of Captain Thomas Mandeville. Where was the heroism in that?

‘Apparently, my brother is considered handsome,’ Charlotte said. She had approached without Lou noticing. ‘I can’t see it; he’s just silly old Tom. But our cousin, Emma, will be the envy of everyone we know, if he proposes this week.’

Charlotte smiled up at the painting. Would she be smiling if she knew the fate waiting for her? A fate shaped by her older brother’s actions. Edward’s words of the previous evening echoed in Lou’s ears – that Charlotte was little more than livestock. But Edward could have no inkling that his sister’s destiny, moulded by their older brother, would rest finally in his decision to marry her off to their cousin.

‘Miss Caxton has a brother, doesn’t she?’ Lou said, watching Charlotte, waiting for her reaction. The way Charlotte’s lip curled at the mention of her future husband confirmed Lou’s worst fears. ‘You don’t like your cousin? You wouldn’t want to marry him?’

‘Marry him!’ Charlotte laughed, her eyes wide. ‘I should as soon marry Attila the Hun as George Caxton.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Lou said quickly. ‘I just thought, with your brother and Miss Caxton … Take no notice of me. Shall we leave? We don’t want to be late for church.’

8

They stepped outside, the cold pinching Lou’s cheeks and pricking her nostrils. Had someone in the real world opened a window? Perhaps. In this world, she walked along the snow-covered path beside Charlotte, breathing in the crisp, fresh air. She may have known Charlotte for less than a day but knew her silence to be quite out of character.

‘You don’t think Aunt Leonora was right, do you?’ Charlotte said finally. ‘That I lack compassion?’

‘Your aunt is worried about Edward, that’s all. I’m sure she didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘I wish I could be so certain. I’ve never known Aunt Leonora to say anything she doesn’t mean. And I don’t ever intend to be cruel to Edward. It’s just that … it’s just that he is always there. I spend more time with him, now that he has come home from Cambridge, than I do with almost anybody else. Except for the last three weeks, that is, when he has seemed preoccupied … He’s often sullen, but yesterday was by far the worst I have ever seen. I make it my job when he is unhappy or blue to try and goad him out of it. Does that make me cruel?’