An unnamed narrator describes feeling excited as she sat for artist Edward Radcliffe. She came to Birchwood Manor with Edward for a summer full of light that was darkened by violent events: “Two unexpected guests. Two long-kept secrets. A gunshot in the dark” (6). Edward left, and the narrator stayed.

Summer 2017. Elodie Winslow, who works at a business that manages the archives of Victorian reformer, James Stratton, opens a box that contains a well-preserved leather satchel. Inside she finds a sketchbook monogrammed with the initials EJR and an antique photograph of a beautiful, long-haired woman wearing a white dress. Elodie scans through the sketchbook and sees a drawing of a large house with two gables, eight chimneys, and a weathervane decorated with celestial symbols. The image of the house evokes a strong feeling of déjà vu, and Elodie takes the sketchbook with her as she leaves work.

James Stratton, son of a banker, had been a good man, committed to social improvements, and Elodie has enjoyed working in his archives. On the bus to her father’s flat, she looks at the sketchbook again and is struck by the drawing of the house.