“You know,” John smiles, a fond thing, “Michael told me when he was over there, on the continent, it wasn’t Mother or Father he thought of. It was you. That was what got him through when the bombs were falling. When men were dying around him.”

Wendy wants to strike him. How can he sit here and tell her this like it’s a kindness? Has he never looked into Michael’s eyes? Does he think to make her feel better, giving her the burden of their little brother, alone and lost in the mud, whispering her name?

John lets go of her hands, straightening the cuffs of his jacket to hide the stain from the tea. His gaze is restless, uncertain where to land.

“You’ll be safe and cared for, Wendy. Please let us do this for you.”

John and Michael could take her out of this place any time. Being married is not a condition of her release, except that John is making it so. She should be furious with him. She is, but she’s tired as well. Wendy looks up at the sky again, the blue of it going through her like a blade. Accepting this proposal means she could walk through the gates, never look back. She could put all this, Dr. Harrington and Jamieson, behind her. She could finally lay the burden of Neverland aside and build a life for herself. Perhaps she could even bring Mary with her. A new life. A new Wendy Darling.

She lowers her gaze to look at John again. The fracture running through him is clear, the weight of Michael and her and everything else, the strain of trying to hold them all together wearing him down over the years. Whatever other reasons he may have, he genuinely believes that this should make her happy. There’s an earnestness to his expression—isn’t marriage and motherhood what every woman wants? He believes he’s giving her a gift, not delivering her to a new kind of imprisonment. Wendy takes a deep breath. Just this once, at last, she will choose kindness. Her brothers should not have to bear the burden of caring for her for the rest of her life. She will do this thing for John. For Michael.

“Yes,” she says.

The word passes her lips, and it seems to come from somewhere beyond her. She looks past John, to the hedge, as if she could see the horizon beyond it. Perhaps a fresh start would be the best thing after all, a new life that protects her brothers from her, protects her from herself.

“Oh, Wendy. I’m so glad. I’ll speak to Dr. Harrington straight away and arrange everything for your release.” John catches her hands, pulls her to her feet and kisses her cheek. “And Ned, of course. You’ll have the opportunity to meet Ned, but I’m certain you’ll be very happy with him.”