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I reluctantly pulled the curtains closed on the carriage , sealing us away from the storm for her comfort She had not left the house at the lake since our last disastrous trip into Geneva had ended with her insane, bereftfor her “While I saw the destruction of the tree as nature’s beauty, Victor saer—power to light up the night and banish darkness, power to end a centuries-old life in a single strike—that he cannot control or access And nothing bothers Victorhe cannot control”

“I wish I had known him better before he left for university”

I patted her hand—her brown leather gloves a gift Henry had given loves were far softer and warmer thannice things to Justine She had joined the household two years earlier, when she was seventeen and I was fifteen, and had been there only a couple of months before Victor left us She did not really know him

No one did, except me I liked it that way, but I wanted them to love each other as I loved them both

“Soon you will know Victor We shall all of us—Victor and you andto add Henry That was not going to happen “We will be reunited most joyfully, and then my heart will be complete” My tone was cheery to mask the fear that underlay this entire endeavor

I could not let Justine be worried Her willingness to coed this trip Judge Frankenstein had initially rejected s to check on Victor I think he was relieved to have Victor gone, did not care e had no word Judge Frankenstein always said Victor would come home when he was ready, and I should not worry about it

I did Very much Particularly after I found a list of expenses withme—and soon, I had no doubt, he would deter on to I had done too well, fixing Victor He was out in the world, and I was obsolete to his father

I would not let myself be cast out Not after my years of hard work Not after all I had done

Fortunately, Judge Frankenstein had been called away on a ain so avesuspicion or censure Williaes, would be fine in the care of the maid until we could return

Another burst of thunder, this one ruh our chests so we felt it in our very hearts

“Tell me the story of the first ti my hand so hard that the bones ached

—

The woed my hair with brutally efficient meanness

I wore a dress that was far too big The sleeves hung down to my wrists, which was not the style for children But the dress covered the bruises that coveredan extra portion of food Though I had often been bloodied by her angry fists, this ti went black I spent the next three nights hiding in the woods at the lake, eating berries I thought she would kill me when she found me; she had often threatened to do just that Instead, she had discovered another use for me

“Do not ruin this,” she hissed “Better for you to have died at your birth along with your mother than to be left here with me Selfish in life, selfish in death That’s what you come from”

I liftedold

“Make theentle knock sounded at the door to the hovel I shared with iver and her own four children “If they do not take you, I will drown you in the rain barrel like the cat’s last litter of runty kittens”

A woht

“Here she is,” el herself Born to nobility Fate stole her mother, pride imprisoned her father, and Austria took her fortune But nothing could touch her beauty and goodness”