Haworth and all the countryside around it were places where superstition had purpose and meaning. It was an armour against ill fortune, which no one who grew up there ever believed was down to something as arbitrary as luck. The belief held firm that speaking of darkness was enough to bring it down upon your head, and heaven knew, Anne felt the very same way. Though she had been brought up under the protection of a Christian god whom she loved dearly, she would always bid good day to a magpie, and you would never find her leaving a new pair of shoes on the table (even though she could not remember the last time she had had a new pair of shoes). Heaven forbid she should accidentally look at a crescent moon through glass, for that would result in throwing salt over her left shoulder and a good deal of spitting. So, though Anne was well-read, educated, informed and as devoted to her faith as any Christian woman should be, she understood how the old ways were still ever present, living alongside the good people of the village, even walking with them on their way to Sunday service. It was, as Tabby said, a belt-and-braces approach, and one that served them well.

“And how did you fare with Lady Hartley?” Anne asked the moment she could find a way in between Emily’s words.

“Well.” Charlotte’s smile was guarded, just as it had been when she was a child protecting a new book from her sisters’ grasp. “Very well indeed. I like Lady Hartley enormously, especially now that we have become more friends than acquaintances. She is very bright and vital, and so very interested and moved by the Top Withens bones. Indeed, Lord and Lady Hartley have resolved to pay for a headstone for the grave, which I thought was so enormously reflective of her and Lord Hartley’s reputation for being truly decent and charitable people. I found her to be exactly the kind of lady I myself aspire to be, the kind who uses her influence to remake the world. You know, I was thinking of how she became instrumental in welfare reform, and—”

“What did you tell her about the bones?” Emily asked Charlotte suspiciously. “Charlotte, you didn’t tell her everything we have discovered, did you? Please say you did not tell her that we were detectors?”

“No, of course not!” Charlotte protested before glancing away. “Well, not exactly.”

“Charlotte!” Anne shook her head in disbelief. “What did you say exactly? For I hardly need to remind you that our interest in detecting is not one that we wish to be made public knowledge—you above all are aware of this. As far as all outside the three of us are concerned, we are simply seeking to name the child; that is all.”

“Indeed, yes,” Charlotte said. “I am no fool, Anne.”

“Are you not?” Emily muttered under her breath.