'Addy, darling, it pains me to imagine you in this house alone night after night. Won't you consider coming to stay with James and I for a week or two? The children would be so delighted to see you,' Claudia pleaded with her doe-like eyes.

'Why, I'm not alone here, Claudie. I've got Brona, Mary and George to keep me company,' Adeline smiled as she and her dear friend awaited tea in the parlour.

'The help? Addy, no good can come of bonding with the servants. You will find yourself tolerating substandard work on behalf of your friendship and before you know what's happened you'll be doing them favors for heaven's sake! It's what they do, you know'

It was right then that Brona padded gently into the parlour with the tea arrangement.

She placed out the bone china tea pot, cups, sugar bowl and cream pitcher.

'Thank you, Brona,' Adeline smiled.

'Ma'am,' she spoke quietly, dipping her head just as she turned back toward the kitchen to fetch the edibles.

'I appreciate your concern, Claudie, truly, but I assure you I'm faring quite well. This is my home, you see, the place where Thomas and I made a marriage'

'I suppose I can understand your position. You want to be where his memory remains strongest,' Claudia conceded with a sigh as she poured a helping of fresh cream into her hot cup of tea.

Adeline soon noticed that Claudia's eyes had begun to dampen with emotion, 'What's the matter, darling?' She questioned worriedly, reaching across the table to rest her hand atop Claudia's.

She let out an embarrassed titter and wiped a stray tear from her cheek, 'It occurs to me how quickly these accidents can happen. I should think I would come off in strips were I to lose James. You're so very strong, Addy'

'Thank you, Claudie. However I- well, I must admit that I don't feel quite as strong as you think me to be. I sometimes feel as though I might crumble into a thousand pieces, and the only thing holding me together is the thought of catching the wretched creature who stole my husband away from me'

'Have the police any suspects?'

'I'm afraid not, but, you see I-' Adeline paused.

'What, Addy?'

'It's nothing, forgive me,' Adeline shook her head, 'I dare say the authorities are proving to be less than useful, however. They seem too busy, or too remiss to put any sort of work into Thomas's case'

'Absolute rubbish. It's a sad state of affairs when a city cannot protect its citizens'

Adeline nodded before she raised her cup to her lips and took a careful sip.

'Claudie, have you ever felt as if James has kept secrets from you?'

'Heaven's no. James is quite the honest man, occasionally to a fault. I must confess I have been more fitting to keep a secret or two than he,' Claudia giggled.

Just then, young Brona delicately trod back into the parlour with the tea rack carrying elaborate bite sized foie gras sandwiches, fresh blueberries and lavender cookies with rose water icing.

'Addy, I know things seem bleak and without end, but once you remarry this will all be behind you. A fresh start is always the best medicine,' Claudia simpered.

'Remarry? I'm not at all certain I will'

Claudia looked at Adeline quizzically, 'Oh but Addy, you must remarry! You're far too young and pretty to be a spinster!'

Adeline placed her hands onto her lap and dropped her gaze, 'It is precisely because I am still young that I hesitate. Any suitors that I attract will surely want to start a family, and you know very well that I cannot offer such a life'

'My dear friend, you must stop torturing yourself over matters you cannot control. Perhaps you might find a young widower who already has children'

To this, Adeline offered only a dismissive smile.

☆

Later on that evening, after the house had quieted down and there were to be no more guests arriving, Adeline found herself roaming idly through the dim halls of her beloved home. They seemed almost haunted by the inky shadows that crept up the adorned walls and crouched, hidden in small corners. For Adeline, these hallways were haunted. Not by the existence of malevolent specters, no. They were haunted by absence. Absence of cherub-like laughter, toys and balls bouncing and falling through little hands too small to grip and the thunderous padding of tiny, excited feet.

Within the ten years Adeline had lived in this house with Thomas, she had suffered through the heartbreak of three miscarriages and two stillbirths. Her body, it seemed, was not suitable for bringing life into the world, only death. It was to be the most pervasive darkness in her life and it hung heavily over her shoulders, weighing down on her like a boulder as a constant reminder of her own inherent folly.

This night, Adeline would summon her immeasurable strength and open the door to a room she had not seen in the span of a year. It was her nursery and still looked just as it did at the time of her last stillbirth.

Adeline could never bring herself to abandon the hope of having a child, so despite the morbidity of it, she held on to this room, always sure to have the maids clean it thoroughly once every month. This unfortunate circumstance was not reserved solely for Adeline, however, as it appeared to be a malady inherited by her mother, who, herself, lost a great number of children before finally birthing a healthy daughter. Unfortunately, it was the child Louisa failed to birth after Adeline that ended her life.

After thoughtfully rearranging a row of unused stuffed toys sitting atop an unused dresser, Adeline padded slowly out of her nursery and closed the door, determined not to enter into it even once more, and resolute on the matter of having Brona and Mary clear it out in the morning. It was time, she told herself steadfastly.

☆

In the quiet and dark of that very night, while Adeline lie asleep in her bed, a dream, so vivid her senses could hear, touch, taste and smell, came to her like a treacherous witch's hex.

She could see trees, cloaked in darkness but dimly illuminated by a waxing crescent moon. The earthy, pungent scent of damp soil and decaying foliage flooded her astral awareness and summoned memories of childhood explorations through the forests surrounding her family's country home. Adeline could see her own foggy breath as she deeply respired cold, misty air, and the cry of unseen crows echoed and permeated within this empyrean landscape.

This celestial body of hers moved confidently between the steady, sagacious trees, prowling the night with a bestial avidity she could scarcely comprehend. Adeline could feel the soft earth yield under her bare feet with each thoughtful step she took, deeper and deeper into these haunted woods.

Then there came a sound, low and foreboding. A deep rumble rising from the belly of an unseen being. Adeline stopped in her tracks, breath and heart beat quickening to a maddening pitch. Alone with nowhere to run or hide, a keen terror surged through her non-corporeal extremities while the guttural growl drew nearer, becoming fiendish and agitated.

She began to fight against this dream state, urging her mind to ascend the levels of her own consciousness like plodding up a slick, muddy hill. Adeline could almost sense her body now, where it lay in her bed on the third level of her home, and yet the wicked vocal rumblings of the beast continued, unperterbed by the shifting landscape.

At last, Adeline returned to herself, jolting fiercely as she awoke in a cold sweat. She sprung up in her bed, gasping for air. To her utter shock and horror, the deep, menacing and rumbling growls had not faded away into obscurity along with the dark forest, and, in fact, appeared to be originating from the corner of her bedroom. She could not see, the room being no more than an unforgiving black shadow, concealing whatever monstrous creature stood watching, insidiously gnarling all the while.

Adeline's breath caught with terror as her eyes blindly darted back and forth through the inky blackness. The sudden hideous clacking of claws against the hardwood floor shook Adeline to her core. She began frantically brushing her fingertips across the items on her nightstand, trembling uncontrollably as she managed to blindly locate the matchbox and gas lantern. As quickly as she could, Adeline shakily removed the chimney, switched on the gas flow and struck a match, holding it to the mantle. The lantern lit up and with quivering, uncoordinated hands, she replaced the glass chimney and lifted the lamp, extending her arm outward into the darkened room to confront the devilish creature within it.

But the moment she turned with her saving light, the room fell silent and she was forced to reconsider her own perceptions, seeing with her own eyes an empty, undisturbed bedroom, utterly devoid of presence in any form.