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Word had quickly spread among the girls that Phoebe Winmoth was likely no better. Phoebe hadn’t helped matters by egging them on, pretending to be mad to scare her classmates, wandering about barefoot in the middle of the night in a white dress, with her hair floating about wildly, chuckling to herself.

Anna had to say something to reassure the poor girl, who was waiting for a response. “Surely that’s all a sack of sunshine,” Anna put in weakly, patting Phoebe’s hands.

Phoebe repressed a watery giggle. “Moonshine. You meant to say, it’s a bag of moonshine, Anna. You always get those idioms wrong.”

“Well, at least I made you laugh. A little. And you feel better now, no?”

Phoebe shook her head emphatically. “It’s not a bag of moonshine, Anna. The last time I saw my uncle, he ran out in the middle of the night, during winter, and rolled in the snow.” She leaned forward, her eyes wide open, so that the whites gleamed. “He was stark naked.”

Anna choked.

“I saw it myself. Believe me, that’s not a sight I will forget easily. Then there was a time when he thought he was a werewolf, and he howled at the full moon, frightening the livestock of the entire area. And then…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “He was convinced he was a vampire, and I happened to come across him in his study…” She began to tremble. “And he was… and he was…”

“And he was what?” Anna asked, breathless.

“Covered in blood.” Phoebe’s eyes were wide in horror as if she still saw the nightmarish vision. “From head to toe, blood everywhere, especially his face, as if, as if…he’d sucked the blood from a body. And the corpse he’d sucked dry was right there with him. On his desk.” She trembled. “I saw it myself. It is a sight I shall never forget.”

“Mon Dieu,” Anna breathed.

Phoebe wrapped her arms around her body and shook her head. “And now he is here to take me with him. He will probably murder me as soon as we reach Hungersford Hall.” The girl clung to Anna. “What am I to do, Anna, oh, what am I to do?”

Before Anna could respond, the door crashed open again, and Miss Grace Thomas, the last remaining teacher at the school, rushed in, her eyes wild, her hair askew, her face ashen with distress.

“It’s a disaster!” Miss Grace echoed Phoebe’s words, clutching at her skirts. “St John has arrived, and I simply cannot face him! I cannot do it. I simply can’t. Anna, please! You must help me!” She wrung her hands in a similar way to Phoebe had earlier.

Anna stared at the two distraught women before her, her heart sinking. It seemed her morning was about to become far more complicated than she had anticipated, and she could write off her free afternoon.

“But Miss Grace, moi, I am but a mere ’ousemaid. What on earth can I possibly do to ’elp?” Maybe playing stupid and dropping more h’s would do the trick, but she rather feared it would not.

Miss Grace dropped onto the bed, covering her eyes with her hands. “I made a tremendous, cardinal mistake. I went and opened the door myself, instead of letting you do it, and this—this—colossus of a man pushed past me into the house. He is h-huge,” she began to stutter, “and unshaven and unkempt, with bushy eyebrows and a wild look in his eyes.” She shuddered.

“That’s my uncle all right.” Phoebe nodded. “In case you haven’t noticed yet, miss, he’s a madman.”

“He addressed me as Miss Hilversham. When I said I wasn’t Miss Hilversham but Miss Thomas, he demanded in a most fearfully ferocious manner that I must go and fetch her immediately. So here I am.”

Phoebe and Anna exchanged startled glances.

“But Miss Grace, Miss ’ilversham is not ’ere.” Anna explained the obvious, slowly, as if she were talking to a child. “Did you not tell ’im so?” Why did it suddenly seem to Anna that she was the only adult in the room?

Miss Grace wrung her hands as she paced the room. “I was so taken aback by that man’s appearance and demeanour that I froze and couldn’t say anything at all. He thought I was the housemaid. Instead of correcting him, I led him into the parlour, wondering how I was to convey that I was merely representing Miss Hilversham without announcing she wasn’t here. Because you should never tell strangers that you are alone in the house.”

“And then?” Anna held her breath.

“And then…” Miss Grace’s face crumpled. “He suddenly jumped at me and-and h-he k-k-kissed me.”

“He did what?” Anna and Phoebe said in unison.

Miss Grace burst into tears. “On my n-n-neck! He kissed me on my neck.”

Phoebe groaned, and Anna merely shook her head in disbelief. “But why on earth would he do something like that?”

Miss Grace buried her face in a handkerchief, and her words were muffled. “I have never been so humiliated! He attempted to ravish me in the parlour of our school. In broad daylight! I will never be able to show my face in society again.”

“Oh, Miss Grace!” Anna could think of nothing at all to say to comfort the distraught lady.

“Ooh, my poor, poor nerves!” Miss Grace sobbed. “I was too shocked to even scream. I slapped him and he toppled over the footstool, and I ran out of the room.”

She rubbed her neck, which showed a spot of angry red. It appeared he didn’t just kiss her there but sucked her.