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Chapters (206)
  1. Praise for Maplecroft
  2. Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Contents
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. THESE ARE THE THINGS AN EARTHQUAKE BRINGS
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  12. A DOCTOR, A LAWYER, A MERCHANT, A CHIEF
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  20. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
  21. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  26. BE SURE YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT
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  29. I CROSS THE MAGPIE, THE MAGPIE CROSSES ME
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  31. Nance O’Neil
  32. THIS KNOT I KNIT, THIS KNOT I TIE
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  37. AND IF YOU HAVE A HORSE WITH ONE WHITE LEG . . .
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  43. THE WORST IS TO BE JUDGED WITHOUT HOPE
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  46. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  53. BUT NETTLE SHANT HAVE NOTHING
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  55. CUT THEM ON FRIDAY, YOU CUT THEM FOR SORROW
  56. Phillip Zollicoffer, Professor of Biology, Miskatonic University
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  62. HAPPY IS THE CORPSE THAT THE RAIN SHINES ON
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  67. A DWELLING PLACE OF JACKALS, THE DESOLATION FOREVER
  68. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  71. Nance O’Neil
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  84. Emma L. Borden
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  88. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  91. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  93. RIGHT CHEEK, LEFT CHEEK—WHY DO YOU BURN?
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  101. Aaron B. Stewart, Fire Chief, Farthington, Mass.
  102. Emma L. Borden
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  104. Gerald Macintyre, Telegraph Clerk, Western Union
  105. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  107. Physalia, Z. University I Was Not Now
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  109. DEPART, ALL ANIMALS WITHOUT BONES
  110. Emma L. Borden
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  115. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  119. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  130. Owen Seabury, M.D.
  131. Phillip Zollicoffer. Physalia Zollicoffris.
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  137. Christoff Dane, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rhode Island, Kingston
  138. •   •   •
  139. Emma L. Borden
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  144. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  150. Emma L. Borden
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  153. FAMILY SLAIN IN MAYFIELD
  154. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  165. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  176. Emma L. Borden
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  186. Owen Seabury, M.D.
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  197. Lizzie Andrew Borden
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  205. Inspector Simon Wolf
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“I couldn’t leave Emma,” she mumbled, and I knew that already. Some fierce, bitter, tiny, hell-bound part of my soul wondered how much longer the invalid could possibly survive, with or without her sister’s money and attention. One day Lizbeth would be free of her, surely? God would see to it, if no one else.

But I remained stalwart, and I hope I sounded kind when I said, “That’s why I’d never do such a thing. What would become of her if I spirited you away?”

She lifted her head and now she was smiling. The smile reached her eyes, and it looked perfectly wicked. “You think you could spirit me away? As easy as that?”

“I’m quite confident.” I grinned back, wondering whether this was some kind of dare, and immediately daydreaming about it. “I outweigh you by forty pounds, if by a single stone. And look at me, darling: sturdy Midwestern farmer’s stock.”

“I thought your father was a preacher.”

“A man of many hats,” I assured her, and cuddled her close again. Emma was upstairs napping, and would not interrupt us. “So there’s one tiny thing he and I have in common, if you squint at it from the right angle.”

“You do have some lovely hats,” she murmured.

And then we heard a bell ringing upstairs, so I was wrong—and Emma could interrupt us after all.

I told Lizbeth I’d make us all some tea while she tended to her sister’s needs. I’m a grown woman who can find her way around a kitchen. I don’t need to be entertained every waking moment; I can absolutely contribute to the care and maintenance of a household.

With a kiss I sent her upstairs, and then I went to the kitchen. I located the tea and all its accoutrements just fine, enjoying the size and well-stocked condition of the large room, lined with cabinets and shelves, offering a space for everything. Even when I’m not sleeping behind the stage, my own household is markedly smaller, and I share it with three or four other girls as often as not. (And Marcus, but let’s be honest—he almost counts as one of us. It’s not as if we’ve allowed Peter to come set up a cot beside us.)

I waited for the kettle to boil, an interminable task that never seems half so short as it ought to. I tapped one foot and peered around the room, still confident that the two upstairs were hiding something from me, but I had no idea what it could possibly be.

A thought sprang through my head: Maybe she’s being courted. Is there a suitor? And then the thought sprang right back out again, because if I’d let it stay, it might’ve made me jealous and angry.