“You’re finished,” she told Rosamund.

“Not just fired.

Every agency in this state has my number.

You’ll never work in a house again.”

Behind Rosamund, both girls were crying — silently, which was its own horror, two children sobbing without making any noise at all because somewhere along the way they had learned that noise made it worse.

Rosamund turned her head just enough to look back at them over her shoulder.

“It’s all right,” she said.