So she did the only thing she could bear to do.

She locked it away, out of his reach, and she left the key to you.”

Then he handed me the sealed envelope from the box, the one with my name on it, and I opened it, and I read the letter inside, written in Evelyn’s faint and trembling hand.

Dearest Mabel.

Forgive me for taking so long to accept what my son has become.

I could not force myself to stop loving him — that is a mother’s curse, and I will carry it to the grave I am already so near.