Three days later Miss Barton arrived. James came to my room that morning as he often did. He told Katherine he was coming to wake me, but I was always awake when he entered the room. I was never dressed. He would stand in the doorway and say loudly enough for Katherine to overhear. "Time to get up, Clare." I would smile and draw back the sheets. He would kneel at the side of the bed and would sometimes kiss the mark on my thigh. I often thought of my parents and that last morning in the cabin.

When James left the room, reminding me that I would meet Miss Barton at breakfast, I turned to the mirror. I had by then come to realize that Frances would appear only when I willed it or when she had a message for me. As I stood wondering whether to summon her, she appeared. Her image was clearly detailed in the morning light, but stood at distance, framed in a doorway. She did not speak, and I watched her for a few moments, aware that there was something disturbing about her appearance. Then I realized she was wearing modern clothing: gray skirt that reached just below her knees and a long-sleeved lavender blouse.

She spoke one word: "Beware". And then she vanished. I called her back, but the mirror showed me only my own reflection. My eyebrows had drawn together, as they did when I was frightened.