The story opens at Miss Ladd’s boarding school where secret suppers and nighttime adventures reveal the girls’ personalities. Emily Brown emerges as a warm and natural leader while Francine de Sor appears as an anxious outsider from abroad. Small discoveries and whispered rumors quietly shape trust and misunderstanding among the students. Adult figures begin to enter the narrative hinting at hidden histories and unresolved ties. This part establishes innocence shadowed by the first signs of deeper conflict.
