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Father has not come home for supper as he promised. There is no word. And he has Kartik and the carriage, so Tom and I are forced to hire a cab to take us to Bethlem. The hospital has been decorated nicely with holly and ivy, and the patients are dressed in their best, full of merriment and mischief.
I've brought flowers for Nell. One of the nurses takes me to the women's ward so that I might give them to her.
"What a beautiful corsage," the nurse says.
"Thank you," I murmur.
"Lucky day for our Miss Hawkins. That's twice she's gotten flowers."
"What do you mean?"
"She had a visitor today who brought her some nice roses."
A patient waltzes past with an imaginary partner.
"A visitor? What was her name?" I ask.
The nurse purses her lips in thought. "I can't remember, I'm afraid. It's been such a day! Mr. Snow's been in a very agitated state of mind. Dr. Smith told him if he didn't settle himself, he'd lose his privileges for the dance. Here we are," she says as we arrive at a small sitting room.
Nell is as disheveled as I've ever seen her. Her thin hair, splintered and broken, falls about her shoulders like a ruin. She's sitting alone, holding Cassandra's cage on her lap. The bird squawks to Nell, who murmurs sweet words in return. On the table beside her is a vase of bright red roses.
"Miss Hawkins," the nurse says. "Here's Miss Doyle to see you, and she's brought you a lovely corsage besides. Won't you say good evening?"
"Good evening! Good evening!" Cassandra chirps.
"I'll leave you to your visit, then," the nurse says. "You'll be needing to dress soon, Miss Hawkins."
"Nell," I say, when we are alone."You had a visitor today. Was it Miss McCleethy?"
Nell flinches at the name, holding the cage so close that Cassandra hops about, flustered. "She led us to the rocks. She promised us the power, and then she betrayed us. It came up from the sea. Jack and Jill went up the hill . . ."
"She was your teacher at Saint Victoria's, wasn't she? What did she do to you? What happened?"
Nell reaches her tiny fingers through the bars of the cage, trying to touch Cassandra, who squawks and hops about, avoiding her grasp.
"Nell!" I grab her hands.
"Oh, Lady Hope." she says in a fierce whisper, her eyes filling with tears."She has found me. She has found me and my mind is so troubled. I fear I cannot keep them out. They won't forgive me."
"Who won't forgive you?" I ask.
"Them!" she nearly shouts. "The ones you talk to. They are not my friends, not my friends, not friends." "Shhh, it's all right, Nell," I murmur. I can hear distant violins tuning. The chamber orchestra has arrived. The dance is almost under way.
Nell rocks tightly. "I must flee soon. Jack and Jill up the hill, up the hill tonight. Tonight, I shall tell you where to find the Temple."
With a surprising agility and fierceness, Nell grabs hold of Cassandra's leg. The bird screeches in her grasp. But Nell's determined, her mouth set in a strange little smile.
"Nell! Nell! Let go of it," I say. I tug at her fingers and she bites my hand hard. A thin, jagged crescent of blood seeps up through my glove.
"Here now, what's all this ruckus?" A nurse marches over, all business. If she sees the bite, Nell will not be allowed to attend tonight's dance, and then I'll never know the location of the Temple.
"The bird pecked me," I say."It frightened me."
"Cassandra, you're a bad girl, you are," the nurse clucks as she pries the cage from Nell's hands.
"Bad girl, bad girl!" Cassandra squawks.
"Tonight," Nell says hoarsely."You must listen. You must see. It's our last chance."
