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Juliet nodded, her eyes still on the girl. “I doubt there will be an end to this. What Mother Superior did was abominable. The torment she put us through…” She turned to Sonya. “It is unforgivable.”

“But we survived.” Mary turned to look at the girl and then at the cluttered room that housed ten other girls.

The poor state of the space was enough to make anyone unhealthy.

“Like Penelope and Ciara, we should all leave this place,” Mary added.

It was the sensible thing to do. But go where? While things had turned out to be far more favorable for both of the Oblates that Mary had mentioned—Penelope was now the Duchess of Huntington, and Ciara had become the Duchess of Silverbrook—it was unlikely that Juliet and Mary would find themselves in the arms of a handsome lord, let alone a duke, like the other girls.

“Where would we go?” Juliet asked.

“Your father is quite wealthy from what I’ve heard,” Mary pointed out.

“He abandoned me here for a reason.” Juliet tried to make light of the situation, but she couldn’t conceal the hurt in her tone.

She turned to Mary, wondering what spun this conversation. “Why have you brought him up all of a sudden? What are you hiding from me?”

Mary’s face contorted into an expression of dismay, and she sighed, shaking her head slightly.

“I never could hide anything from you. There is no painless way to say this, but I wanted to tell you in any event.” Mary grabbed Juliet’s hands. “I shall soon be leaving, Juliet. I’ve been offered a position as a governess in a good household. It is a chance for a better life that I’d never believed I would get.”

Juliet’s heart sank.

At the end of the day, it always boiled down to the same thing.

Everyone always left her.

Shaking her head to ward off the foul thought, she smiled. “That’s wonderful news, Mary. You deserve it although I can certainly say things will be difficult without you here.”

Mary’s eyes filled with concern. “I know, and I’m asking why you continue to insist upon staying. Surely, you must have some plans. Someone you can turn to that will rescue you from this hell. You cannot remain here for the rest of your life.”

Juliet’s smile faltered, and she looked down at her hands. “I don’t know. I have no one.”

“Can you come with me? I could find you a good suitor or perhaps a loving home you could work in,” she suggested.

Juliet knew she meant well, but leaving behind the nunnery with all of these sick girls was unthinkable. Who would cater to them? Who would forage for food and ensure they ate, no matter how little? Who would wipe their sweat-slicked brows and tell them that their nightmares held no power over them?

“You know I cannot. Look at this place. Many of the girls are ill. Sonya is so thin and frail; I am fraught with worry about her.”

“Stop it,” Mary scolded without any heat. “You cannot keep thinking of everyone else and forget about yourself. For once, be selfish.”

The Oblate looked so serious that Juliet found it humorous. Her lips curled in a smile. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.” Mary insisted. “Do you honestly think they won’t be okay without you?”

Juliet looked away.Would they?

“Mary…”

A nun hurried in, and the ladies stopped talking.

“Juliet, you need to pack your things.” Her tone was more urgent than Mary’s had been just a moment ago. “Your father has sent a carriage for you. You are to return to London at once.”

Juliet’s heart pounded in her chest.

“My father? London?” she repeated as if she didn’t understand what the words meant.

She had only seen her father once since the day he had sent her to St. Catherine’s more than a decade earlier. Memories of that day floated to the surface from the recesses of her mind where she’d tucked them safely away.