The Young Ladies’ Seminary
Benicia, California
December 3, 1857

Clarinda Humphrey jammed the chair beneath her doorknob and tugged the beautiful garnet ring from its hiding place beneath her chemise. Undoing the knot, she slipped the heirloom free of the ribbon that had kept it close to her heart these last three days. She slid the ring onto the third finger of her left hand.
    Or tried to.
    The metal caught on the thick, hideous scar that ran across her second knuckle. With determination, she shoved it past and narrowed her attention to the stone’s promise.
    She was loved.
    The urge to hum swelled within her as she strolled to the window. She pulled back the heavy drapes and lifted her hand to the light filtering through the thin lace curtains. Barely a glint reflected in the deep red stone.
    She parted the lace, careful to remain out of view, and tilted her hand in the late afternoon sunlight below the sill. A myriad of tiny red dots danced across the walls.
    This was the night. She’d never be alone again. She clapped her fingertips in a quiet patter.
    Laughter filtered through the windowpane.
    She froze. Had they seen her? No. The slit in the curtains was too narrow. Wasn’t it? She dared a peek at the garden below.
    Several of her classmates strolled the paths. The girls chattered in the late afternoon sunlight, seemingly oblivious to her observation.
    Not girls. Women—despite what their parents may believe. Like her, they’d been sent to the first female college in the west to be trained—molded—into the ladies their parents wished them to become.
    But they were nothing like her.
    All bright, beautiful, and whole, none of her classmates had ever questioned their future. Why should they? They’d never been shunned at social gatherings, nor been asked to remain behind so as not to repel the other guests. They hadn’t been told they would never marry—that no man would ever want them. They’d never lain awake at night wondering why God had abandoned them.
    Nor had they ever made any attempt to befriend her.
    And that was fine with her. Normally.
    Right now Clarinda’d give almost anything for a confidante to entrust with her secret. She was bursting to tell someone. Not even Katie, her one true friend at this school, knew of her plans. Clarinda couldn’t risk the young maid losing her position here if it were discovered she’d kept a scandalous confidence. Though, she would know soon enough. The day had finally arrived.