Chapter 3
Instantly, as the door swung shut heavily behind them, Alice’s legs began to pulse, like her bones were turning to lead.
The cold the tub had left behind her ribs woke and stretched.
She should have refused to follow. She should have run in the other direction!
“Keep up,” Marker snapped as Alice followed her through the quiet hallway, which was identical to the residents’ floor where she was kept and apparently just as empty.
The doors stood open, all but two—one midway down, and one at the end, where Marker was leading her.
The midway door was shut but not latched.
Through the inch of dark, in passing, Alice saw a room like all the others, except that its mirror had been taken down and set on the floor, face to the wall.
The sheet that had covered it lay folded on the bed, squared at the corners, as though someone meant to come back. Then she was past it.
Marker opened the final door.
Inside the room, grey light flooded in from the enormous window of thick leaded glass that stretched almost to the ceiling, which pitched dramatically where it met the crest of the roof. The faded wallpaper showed an ornate rose pattern.
“Alice!” Marker’s voice echoed, startling Alice out of her thoughts and into noticing the young woman who occupied the room.
She wore the same dull brown skirted uniform as Alice, though it looked childish on her as she was a bit taller.
Unlike Alice, however, she seemed to know just how to hold her long limbs.
Even with a hem that fully exposed her ankles, and a bodice that bound her chest and bunched under her arms, she appeared graceful, and even with her chestnut hair twisted into a neat bun, her appearance was beautiful, in a simple and effortless way.
“Good day, Miss Marker,” the lovely young woman said warmly, though she soon became hesitant as Marker’s nasty scowl remained.
“Wendolyn, this is Alice,” Marker said coldly.
“You will be sharing the room whilst Molloy is away.” Alice felt a sudden pang of excitement at the opportunity to have someone to talk with, and based on Wendolyn’s face, she did, as well.
“Alice, I will have your items brought here,” Marker said, and Alice fought the urge to rebut, to scream, What has happened to you?
Marker began to turn, then slowly turned back.
“Perhaps Wendolyn can warn you of the dangers a woman faces with men.” Her eyes darted between them.
“Had I not just discovered you alone with that young man, who knows what other doctors would be needed to handle you, at the expense of this institution.” Marker raised a sharp eyebrow.
Where her cuff pulled back, the skin at her wrist was mottled dark, like fruit going soft in a bowl.
Alice felt her face bloom red. Marker was clearly trying to embarrass Alice in front of Wendolyn!
Alice was about to say something regrettable, but Wendolyn glanced up, catching Alice’s eye, and gave a gentle smile which flashed and vanished as she shook her head quickly.
Alice, feeling her kindness, was immediately tempered.
How had Wendolyn instantly known that Alice had a tendency to speak out of turn?
The girl was most definitely not a murderess, Alice decided.
“You are not to leave this floor,” Marker said curtly. “Is that understood?”
“Yes,” Alice murmured.
“Perhaps you have garments that could use mending, Miss Marker?” Wendolyn said, a clear attempt to ease the tension in the room.
She spoke with a distinct clip and drawl as Alice did: refined, precise, methodical.
Wendolyn came from a family of privilege, no doubt.
Alice imagined they were neighbors who had not yet met.
Miss Marker glared at Wendolyn before finally responding, “Mend your own garments, girl.” Wendolyn’s face fell.
The sudden shift in Marker’s demeanor was clearly as startling to her as it was to Alice, though perhaps not as heartbreaking.
Marker’s eyes flicked between the two young women, then, without another word, she went out, slamming the door behind her.
Alice and Wendolyn stood opposite each other, eyes locked, listening to Marker’s skirt shifting down the hallway. The moment the stairwell door slammed, they rushed toward each other, gripping each other’s hands as if they had known each other for years.
“Pleased to meet you!” Alice said.
“So lovely to meet…” the young woman said over Alice in excitement. The two began to laugh.
“I am Alice Liddell,” Alice said with a tiny dip, nodding to their shared proper background.
“Please forgive my unbecoming state,” she added, realizing she likely still looked like a wet alley cat.
At this thought, her face heated up again as she recalled the way the young man downstairs had looked at her.
Miss Molloy had summoned him? For what purpose?
And why had he appeared so eager to speak with Alice?
Wendolyn’s smile grew. “A pleasure to meet you, Alice,” she said, dipping as well. “I am Wendolyn Darling. Do call me Wendy! And I don’t know what state it is that you are referring. You are perfectly lovely!” Alice blinked as her grin spread; the kindness came as such a surprise.
“Wendy, was this the first time you met Miss Marker’s rabid twin sister?”
Alice felt a twinge of guilt saying something ill of Marker, but then Wendy’s mouth dropped, and she erupted into laughter.
Alice had caught her by surprise. “Oh, Alice! I sincerely cannot recall the last time I laughed. Miss Marker’s disposition certainly was lacking a certain levity, as well as her usual pleasantness.
Especially when delivering such wonderful news as making a new friend and sharing a room with another! ”
Alice had to agree; this was most wonderful news.
In fact, it seemed as if her heart recognized Wendy, yearned for her.
With a tight smile, Alice felt a rush of gratitude, and she fought back tears.
Wendy’s joy softened, and she immediately wrapped her arms around Alice without saying a word, and, in this tiniest of ways, began to mend the loneliness and heartbreak that Alice concealed.