Opening
A hidden door swings open and two centuries collide as Caroline Parcewell uncovers the apothecary’s secret room, while, in 1791, Nella Clavinger and Eliza Fanning scramble to outrun a tightening investigation. When Caroline’s husband, James Parcewell, accidentally poisons himself, the past’s shadows spill into the present, turning research into a crisis.
What Happens
Chapter 21: Caroline
Caroline slips behind a false wall of shelves into the subcellar and finds a preserved apothecary—glass vessels, worktable, books, and one enormous register. With her phone battery about to die and the room completely dark, she fires off flash photos of every surface, page, and label she can, barely seeing what she captures. Her phone dies as she escapes the alley; back at the hotel, James is awake, the marriage strain thick between them, and she decides to wait until morning to examine the photos.
By daylight, James complains of a sore throat and cough. Eager for privacy, Caroline nudges him toward the Tower of London and offers eucalyptus oil as a topical remedy when he asks for DayQuil. Alone, she charges her phone and studies the images: a handwritten ledger cataloging names, ingredients, and dates from the late 1700s. She realizes it’s a client register documenting deadly purchases. She begins decoding the script, noting poisons like opium, tobacco, and arsenic, and puzzling over “NV tincture.” James returns pale and vomiting, demanding the room to himself; Caroline gives him space and slips out, her discovery electrifying the theme of The Power of the Past and History.
Chapter 22: Eliza
February 1791. Eliza is furious with herself over the addressed jar and fears she has doomed Nella. While Nella quietly packs to flee, Eliza devours Tom Pepper’s household magick, landing on a “Tincture to Reverse Bad Fortune,” which she hopes will undo her mistake and even vanquish the spirit of Mr. Amwell. As she schemes about ingredients, a knock rattles the door.
Relief floods the room when Lady Clarence steps in to return the incriminating jar. Her lady’s maid—the one who administered the poison—has fled, leaving Lady Clarence inconvenienced but safe. Nella’s panic loosens; the immediate threat seems to pass. Before leaving, Lady Clarence offers Eliza a housemaid position. Afterward, Eliza admits the ghostly fear still grips her, and she resolves to brew the magick tincture the next day to mend her fortune.
Chapter 23: Nella
By morning, Nella feels her body and spirit fray, certain Lord Clarence’s death hastens the “rot” inside her. Determined to cut ties to protect Eliza, she tells the girl to be gone by the time she returns from the market. On Fleet Street, a headline in The Thursday Bulletin stops her cold: “Bailiff Searching for Lord Clarence’s Murderer.” The maid has gone to the authorities with a wax impression of the jar—etched with a bear and a partial address: “B ley.”
Nella spirals, even considering the Thames, but she cannot abandon Eliza. She rushes back to find the girl amid dozens of jars and pulverized herbs, disguising potion-making as tea. With danger suddenly immediate, Nella orders Eliza to leave at once for the Amwell house, withholding the horrifying details to protect her. Her urgency crystallizes the cost—and power—of Female Solidarity and Empowerment.
Chapter 24: Caroline
At a café, Gaynor produces two Thursday Bulletin clippings from February 1791. The first details Lord Clarence’s murder and the maid’s testimony about a bear-marked jar and partial address; the printed bear matches the symbol on Caroline’s vial exactly. The discovery confirms the vial’s origin and ties Caroline’s find to a historical crime, anchoring the through-line of Secrets and Deception.
Before they open the second article, James calls in a panic: he needs a hospital. Caroline returns to find him collapsed on the bathroom floor, trembling and bleeding from the mouth. He confesses he drank the eucalyptus oil, mistaking it for DayQuil. Paramedics descend. Amid the chaos, one finds Caroline’s notebook, open to “Quantities of non-poisons needed to kill.” They inform her police are waiting at the hospital to speak with her—transforming Caroline from historian to possible suspect.
Chapter 25: Eliza
Sent away, Eliza refuses to go straight home. She brews the “Tincture to Reverse Bad Fortune,” dividing it into two small vials—one blue, one pink—marked only by the bear. The spell must “cure” for sixty-six minutes, so she walks to the Clarence estate, where constables swarm. Inside, posing as a housemaid candidate, she’s whisked to Lady Clarence.
Lady Clarence reveals the investigation’s expansion: someone else has produced a bear-marked vial near another suspicious death. Authorities suspect a “repeat killer” and work to decode “B ley.” She begs Eliza to warn Nella to flee before she’s found and compelled to betray her clients. During their exchange, Eliza also learns the truth of her body: Nella explains menstruation, and Eliza realizes the bleeding after Mr. Amwell’s death isn’t a curse but her entry into womanhood—a pivotal turn in her Self-Discovery and Identity. Eliza sprints to 3 Back Alley and finds Nella bent over an old register entry, looking resigned to her fate.
Character Development
These chapters shove every protagonist to a precipice—Caroline into legal danger, Nella into exposure, Eliza into agency. Each must act, not just react.
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Caroline Parcewell
- Evolves from curious tourist to committed historical detective, decoding a lethal ledger.
- Becomes entangled in a real-time poisoning when James drinks the oil she provided.
- Her anger over James’s Betrayal collides with fear for his life, sharpening her resolve and complicating her independence.
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Nella Clavinger
- Brief relief collapses into dread after the newspaper exposes the bear mark and partial address.
- Flirts with self-destruction but chooses responsibility, sending Eliza away to keep her safe.
- Accepts the weight of her ledger—both a history and an indictment.
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Eliza Fanning
- Moves from guilty passivity to purposeful action, brewing her own “magick” solution.
- Steps toward adulthood by understanding her body and dispelling superstition.
- Emerges as a courageous messenger and protector, racing to warn Nella.
Themes & Symbols
The past asserts itself as a living force. Caroline’s photographs of the secret register and the matching bear in an 1791 newspaper make the eighteenth century tangible, proof that the apothecary’s shadow spills into the present. That continuity drives the novel’s engine: traces endure; objects remember; history answers back.
Secrets power both timelines. Hidden rooms, disguised teas, a smuggled jar, and a misread notebook page turn private intentions into public jeopardy. Female networks—Nella and Eliza, Caroline and Gaynor—counter that secrecy with care and action, suggesting solidarity as the antidote to deception’s collateral damage.
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Symbol: The Bear
- A maker’s mark becomes a dragnet. The bear binds deaths across years and transforms from brand to forensic signature, exposing Nella’s network and validating Caroline’s find.
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Symbol: The Register
- A double-edged archive—treasured artifact to Caroline, moral ledger to Nella. It records rescued women and ruined men, preserving both agency and guilt.
Key Quotes
“Bailiff Searching for Lord Clarence’s Murderer.”
- A headline turns rumor into mandate. Once the case is public, Nella’s private trade becomes a citywide hunt, collapsing any illusion of safety.
“B ley”
- A fragment is enough. The partial address, coupled with the bear, gives authorities a breadcrumb trail—and shows how tiny traces can doom careful secrets.
“Tincture to Reverse Bad Fortune.”
- Eliza’s faith in magick reveals both fear and courage. The phrase marks her pivot from haunted child to problem-solver, even if her method blurs science and spell.
“Quantities of non-poisons needed to kill.”
- Academic curiosity curdles into evidence. The irony is brutal: Caroline’s notes, intended to decode the past, incriminate her in the present.
“Repeat killer.”
- With this label, the investigation reframes Nella’s work as a serial pattern, magnifying risk for every woman connected to the bear.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
- Convergence of Timelines: The bear emblem in Caroline’s vial and the 1791 headlines fuse past and present, proving the apothecary’s legacy endures in objects and archives.
- Escalation of Stakes: The inquiry widens from one murder to a pattern; Caroline’s research becomes a police matter after James’s poisoning.
- Reversal of Roles: The betrayed spouse becomes the suspected poisoner, while the alleged poisoner becomes the protector of a child—tensions that redefine guilt and care.
- Agency Under Pressure: Each protagonist must choose quickly—Caroline to face scrutiny, Nella to shield Eliza, Eliza to act despite fear—propelling the story into its next crisis.