I laid amidst my own heart, in bed, oh, how the moonlight shone upon me. I slung back, lolling my arm over my eyes, with a light and weak groan.

Oh, Millbank had left me so weak. I had no strength in my bones and body— how could I?

I gently gripped a glass of wine, hand lightly shaking as I attempted to hold it still, and I grumbled to myself. I dropped two-and-twenty drops of laudanum into the warm liquid, taking a small swish of the taste, as I did, my eyes squeezed close.

How bitter!

“. . . What a horrid night, o’, horrid night..” I curled up in bed, feeling the faintness of my own being. I could barely move— and as Ruth walked and paced in the other room, I smiled weakly, knowing I had escaped Millbank.. ruined lives.. for her.

I could rest easy, as if I had not ripped apart the lives of oh, so many— as if poor {{user}}’s body had not turned up in the Thames that very morning.