Not at risk? Camilla thought. Of course I'm at risk! From time immemorial, people have known better than to get within rock-throwing distance of a leper.

She reminded herself of the money she would be paid. I'll stay only a minute, she promised herself. When I leave, I'll buy borax and scrub myself for hours.

Katie was heavily garbed in white, even more veiled than the nun. Only her eyes and hands were exposed. Katie offered a hand to be shaken. Camilla had no choice, but she would burn the glove later.

“I am not diseased, Miss Matthews,” said Katie gently. “I wear this veil so you will not see my deformities. My mother and father gave me to an asylum for storage, just as lepers are stored here. A decent and good person saved me from that asylum. Here indeed I try to be an equally good and decent person to others.”

“That's why I've come,” said Camilla. “Devonny is so very very worried about her beloved brother. She has had no news. She fears for his fate, now that he has become a kidnapper.”

Katie laughed behind the veil. “I was not kidnapped. I was saved from a life of torment in a house of cruelty. In decency and in honor Strat left behind that which he loved and brought me here.”

Women! thought Camilla. How we fall for anything a man says. “Would you tell me what young Mr. Stratton did that could be called honorable? Because I must admit to you that others disagree.”

When Katie turned and went to sit on a small stool, a table set for tea was revealed: two cups, sugar and lemons. Drink tea poured by the hand of a leper? Camilla gagged.

“Strat and I crossed the ocean together, pretending to be brother and sister,” explained Katie. “When we arrived penniless in Spain, we stayed at a convent and pretended to be on a pilgrimage. I was awestruck by the work of the nuns and I embraced their holy lives. Strat chose adventure and sailed on.”

That was one way to look at it. Another was that Junior, having dragged her across the ocean, now dropped her off to die among the lepers.

“And the second person young Mr. Stratton so generously brought along?” said Camilla.

“Poor Douglass was born with very little brain,” said Katie. “His parents, like mine, stored him in the asylum. Strat brought both of us to safety. I have Douglass with me here. He is happy. All is well, Miss Matthews.”

All is well? Such sainthood made Camilla want to race out into the streets and do something wicked.

“And young Mr. Stratton?” she said carefully. “Is he safe? Is he happy? His dear sister misses him painfully and hopes for communication.”

From a tin box on a rickety wooden table by her narrow bed, Katie removed a packet of letters. She cradled them in her two hands like a bouquet, drinking in their scent.