letter vanished into thin air, leaving the Firemaster alone in the darkness.
CHAPTER
ONE
Rosalind Hawkins answered the door with her entire being in a knot of anxiety; expecting yet another aggressive creditor, she schooled her face into a calm she did not feel. Outside, the dreary, drizzling day was giving way to another dreary night. The home that had once been her sanctuary was now under siege-and no longer hers.
How long must I bear this? How long can I bear this?
'I'm sorry,' she began as the heavy oak door swung wide, 'But if you have a claim, you will have to apply to Mr. Grumwelt of Grumwelt, Jenkins and-'
But the figure outside the door was no hostile stranger. 'Do I need to apply to a solicitor to visit, now, Rose?' asked the short, slender, grey-haired man on the front porch in surprise. She started, and began to laugh with relief at seeing a friendly face for the first time since the funeral, her emotions making her briefly giddy-and she hoped she did not sound hysterical. 'Of course not, Professor Cathcart!' she exclaimed, 'It's just that I've had Papa's creditors at the door all day, and I've gotten into rather a habit of-' She stopped at the sight of the Professor's confusion. 'Oh, never mind, please come in! I'm afraid I cannot offer you any refreshment,' she added, ruefully, 'but the grocer came with a seizure notice and a policeman and carted away everything edible in the house before breakfast.'
A week before, that simple admission would have been unthinkable. Too many unthinkable things had happened since then for her to even think twice about this one.
Professor Cathcart, Ph.D. and expert in medieval and ancient languages, her mentor at the University of Chicago, widened his colorless eyes with shock. He took off his hat as he entered the door, and stood in the entryway, turning it in his hands nervously, twisting the soft felt. Rosalind closed the door behind him and led him into the parlor. She had all the gaslights on, burning in reckless abandon. After all, why bother to save the gas? The bills were already too great to pay.
He sat down gingerly on the horsehair sofa-which tomorrow would probably be gracing someone else's parlor. His elongated face was full of concern as well as shock, and he appeared to be groping for words. She felt a stirring of pity for him; after all, what could one say in a case like this?
He licked his lips, and made an attempt. 'I knew that Hawkins was not well off after those speculations of his, but I had no notion that things had come to such dire straits!'
'Neither did I,' Rosalind said simply, as she sat down on the matching chair, groping behind her for the arm of the chair to assist her. 'While he was alive, his salary at the University paid the bills, and the extra tutoring he did for those brainless idiots in the Upper One Hundred kept the other creditors at bay. Now-' She turned her palms upward in her lap and examined them, unable to meet his eyes and the pity in them. 'Now they descend.'
Professor Cathcart sounded dazed. 'He left you nothing, then?'
'Nothing but a stack of unpaid bills and this house-which has been seized by the creditors,' she replied wearily. 'They have graciously allowed me to retain my personal possessions-excepting anything of value, like Mama's pearls.'
'They're taking the pearls?' Cathcart was aghast. 'Surely not-'
'Took, the pearls,' she corrected, pushing her glasses up on her nose with a cold finger, trying not to remember how she had wept when they'd taken the only inheritance she had from her mother. 'Yesterday. And other things-' She gripped the arms of the chair, trying to hold off the memory, the horror, of watching strangers sort through her belongings, looking for anything they might seize as an asset. 'The books in Papa's library are already gone, the furniture goes tomorrow, and the house itself whenever Mr. Gramwelt finds a buyer, I suppose. They say I can stay here until then. I could camp out on the floor until the buyer appears, if they'd left me the camping gear-'
She was saved from hysteria by a wave of faintness that made her sway a little and catch at the arm of the chair to keep from falling. The Professor was instantly out of his seat and at her side, taking her hand and patting it ineffectually. But his words showed a surprising streak of practicality.
'Child, when did you eat last?' he demanded. She shook her head, unable to remember-and that, in itself, was disturbing. Was she losing her memory? Was she losing her mind? 'I haven't had much appetite,' she prevaricated.
