Finally, Georgina being a hoarder was paying off. I’d seen elephants all over the living room before her whimsical detritus was cleared out, so I trundled down into the cavernous storage room of Apartment 1A to dig through some boxes. I found a beautiful one made of jade—I couldn’t think why we’d spurned it; it would fit nicely in the front hall, although perhaps that line of thinking is exactly how people become hoarders. I set it aside, along with a small white porcelain elephant, and a few others carved of wood. When I lifted out the last one, I heard a clattering and dug around in the bottom of the box. My hand closed around something cold and round, and when I pulled it out, a long chain came with it. A necklace.

I turned it over in my palm. The charm was in the shape of a portly camel, fitting neatly inside my cupped hand, with a small hinge along the bottom and a pin-size latch at the top. I ran my thumbnail under the latch, and half the camel flipped open; a small silver key and a knot of paper tumbled out.

My heart leapt. Slowly, carefully, I undid every painstaking fold, until a scrap lay in front of me that was barely legible around all the creases. I flicked on my phone flashlight and leaned over it.

very heart. I understand the obstacles. Ellie will see only the betrayal. We may lose her, but we will gain life. For I die when I can’t feel your presence. I suffocate when I don’t breathe your air. I love you. I am yours. Always. Be brave.

Forever,

Georgina

“Holy shit, I found it!” I crowed aloud to the crumbling, crumpled piece of paper. Then I squinted at it and realized something was scribbled on the other side. She’d addressed it with a crooked heart, and H. V. written inside.

“H. V.,” I murmured. “H. V. Who are you?”

I tucked the page in the back pocket of my jeans, taking care not to rip it, and then heaved the box back where I’d found it, atop a chaise longue that had an old rusted French weathervane standing next to it with an O where the W would have been. I turned to figure out how to carry the elephant trinkets upstairs when suddenly I sat down hard on the couch.

A vane. Vane. Henry. Nick’s grandfather. Eleanor’s husband.

H. V. was Henry Vane. It had to be.