July 1878. Midnight. The Manor was quiet. Jessie crept down the long, narrow hallway on light feet as the rest of the house's residents were deep in slumber. The ball had ended four hours ago, and Jessie's mother and father went to bed straight after cleaning up, as they were exhausted. Tonight was a great opportunity to see Henry, Jessie thought earlier at the ball. Everybody who was anybody in London was there; the Members of Parliament, the Lords, even the Queen's distant cousin was there, too. Jessie ran down the steps into the main entry way of the house in her night gown. Normally, she wouldn't go out in such revealing attire, but tonight it was urgent. She had to meet with Henry. When Jessie reached the garden out the back, she sat on one of the wooden benches. She was boiling in the hot summer air, and attempted to fan herself with her hand. Finally, a figure showed up at the bottom of the garden, and Jessie stood out of respect. Her mother always told her to be respectful in the presence of a man. But she couldn't be formal with Henry, whenever he was around, she got butterflies in her tummy - the beautiful kind - so she could never stand still! The figure began to walk towards her. "Henry! Goodness I'm glad you got my message!" But the figure suddenly split into two figures. No. It was wrong. It was all wrong. Jessie and Henry always met alone. In fact, Jessie had made extra care to tell Henry not to come with anyone. Yet he had not listened. Typical men. The figures were advancing on Jessie. She didn't feel scared, not really, until she saw their faces. The tallest man had ginger hair with a matching beard, and a gigantic scar running from the corner of his mouth to his eyebrow, jarring his features. The shorter man was bald, with several gaps in his teeth and a fierce look on his face. "You're n-not Henry." Jessie stuttered. "No, love." Replied the taller man. "But you're Jessamine, aren't you?" Jessie nodded slightly. "You won't be doing that for much longer." Said the shorter man. And the darkness claimed her. ~~ When Charlotte woke up, she knew her first priority was the wake up Miss Jessamine and make her presentable for breakfast. Charlotte trotted down the hall to Jessie's room and rapped loudly on the door. No answer. Charlotte turned the knob and found Miss Jessamine's bed completely empty, but her slippers were missing. Charlotte assumed she was still out with Henry, but it was her job to make sure she got back. After all, Charlotte was the only person who knew about the secret love affair. Charlotte searched all of the gardens, and finally came to search the Italian Garden - the smallest of them all - when she saw it. Miss Jessamine was sitting on the bench. It would have looked normal, if there were not a pool of blood at her feet and on her nightgown, and her head in her lap. ~~ I know it's late! Okay? I was in hospital with what they thought was appendicitis (and it wasn't thank God!) and I couldn't finish. This was my best attempt at mystery, and I hope you enjoyed it!