She was curled on the bed, her knees drawn up nearly to her chin. I sat beside her.

‘You knew Hettie very well,’ I said.

She turned her eyes to me and covered them with her palms.

‘You can cry, Mary,’ I said, but she lay rigid and the room grew still around us.

‘It’s getting cold,’ I said, ‘and Miss Gillies is asking after you.’

She sat up, swinging her feet to the floor, and I rose also. Then in the mirror I saw her slip her hand beneath the pillow, take something out and place it in her apron.

Downstairs, the atmosphere was dense and with the exception of Greer, we all wore our shock upon our faces. Mrs Lenister served up a lunch that nobody ate. Lessons were cancelled and we remained in the drawing room. Although the wind grew in volume, the house was as quiet as a coffin.

I took out my sewing box and helped Mary with Bobbity’s dress, but her stitching was careless and our hands soon fell idle. I was grateful when it was time for Mary’s bed. Afterwards, I returned downstairs with an excuse for an early night on my lips, but Miss Gillies had placed a glass of whisky by my seat.

‘We should raise a glass for Hettie, whatever I may have thought of her.’

I agreed and put the tumbler to my mouth. ‘How old was she? She did not look more than twenty-five in the photograph you gave me.’

‘She was twenty-four or thereabouts. A similar age to you. I must write to her family and send my condolences, although it’s possible that the ship’s captain has already undertaken that duty. Either way, there will be no boat quick enough to bring them for the funeral.’

‘Not an easy correspondence.’

‘No.’ She put down her glass. ‘Seeing that brooch again today reminded me of what an odd creature she was. She had a gift for finding lost things, you know – a ring, a piece of clothing or a key. Once she found an apron that Mrs Lenister had somehow packed away by accident in a mending pile.’

She cupped her glass. ‘There was this one occasion when she found a necklace. I wracked my brains to understand how she had done it. Still, to this day, I cannot fathom how it was achieved.’

I looked at her questioningly. ‘But lost things are so often fallen upon. Is it so extraordinary?’

‘No, to give her her due, she had a talent. On the occasion I particularly recall, Greer had gone down to the pier. When she returned her chain was gone. It was of no value but meant a lot to her. Greer lost her family when she was young, you know.’

‘All of them?’ I experienced a stab of sympathy.