‘Jem?’ Lily leaned forward in her chair, pulling her legs up in front of her and wrapping her arms around them. Fear stoked in her heart and her voice shook as she spoke: ‘If you don’t mind me asking … what happened to Grace?’

Chapter Twenty-Five

When Alice awoke, she felt more rested than she had in a long time. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she looked around the room and noticed that Grace had already left. Alice frowned and dropped back onto her pillow. She hoped she hadn’t done anything to offend her new friend, because she had come to rely on her. Especially as she was sure things were about to get much more frightening.

Alice crawled out of bed, her neck stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. She opened the dresser and pulled out a long black dress made from heavy lace. It was more beautiful and expensive than anything Alice had ever owned. She pulled it on and fought with the fastenings, trying to get herself into the complex garment with all of its buttons and ties. It had a high lace neck, and an emerald-coloured stone was set into the material that rested in the notch between her collarbones. The dress itself was heavily structured and a bone frame was fitted into the lining which made her corset obsolete.

After several attempts to reach behind her back to fasten the final few clasps at the nape of her neck, made nearly impossible by her stiff joints and anxious shaking hands, she decided that she’d just have to throw a shawl over her shoulders to cover the gaping hole at the top of her dress. As she rifled through the drawers in search of a shawl or a wrap, there was a quiet knocking at the door.

‘Come in,’ Alice muttered. She still felt thorny around anyone in the Sect except Grace, and hated the thought of having to speak to any of them.

‘Good morning,’ said a familiar voice, smooth as satin and as comforting as a warm apple crumble.

Alice spun around, paranoid that Grace would laugh, or worse, judge her, for her inability to fasten her dress. ‘Grace, um … hello.’ Alice smiled awkwardly, but she couldn’t ignore the writhing feeling in her stomach, as if there were a thousand tiny creatures living in there, trying to free themselves. She hoped Grace wouldn’t notice the tremor in her voice.

‘Having a few dress issues, are we?’ Grace asked, smiling at Alice without a touch of judgement or amusement – but with, perhaps, a hint of playfulness.

‘Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just find a shawl to wrap around my shoulders and no one will notice. I hope…’ Alice trailed off, embarrassed.

‘No, don’t be silly, I’ll help!’ Grace strode across the room, clearly confident in her dress fastening skills, even if she herself was dressed in a linen shirt with rolled up sleeves and loose-fitting slacks. She led Alice by the hand until they both faced the full-length mirror. Alice shivered as Grace, with her gentle and delicate hands, swept Alice’s curtain of raven hair over her shoulder, out of the way of the fastenings. ‘Now, I have to admit,’ Grace began, and Alice was thankful that she was making the effort to create casual conversation, ‘I’ve had much more experience undoing dresses from this angle, but I’m sure it’s just as easy to fasten them.’