She Loved Mysteries So Much That She Became One

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About the Image

Featured in this post is Arane, a beautiful new release from Belle Epoque for the current round of We <3 Roleplay. Styled as an Edwardian day dress, Arane comes in twelve colors, from soft pastels to rich jewel tones. I chose this deep golden shade because it felt perfect for Margaret’s autumn walk by the lake and gave the whole image a warm, seasonal feel. Stop by We <3 Roleplay to try on a demo and see which color suits your own turn-of-the-century look.

Also featured is the ridiculously adorable Yorkie Pumpkin Carrier from newer creator PETHOUSE. This little sweetheart was on sale last weekend for Fifty Linden Friday, but I liked her so much that I ended up buying the fatpack! PETHOUSE only has a handful of items in the store so far, but everything I’ve seen is charming, and I’m definitely curious to see what they create next.

Complete credits are below the story. Store and event SLurls are available on the Store & Event Links page.

The Story

Ever since the afternoon she and Serena had discovered the old photograph of Margaret E. Delaney, Claire had become increasingly interested in genealogy. What began as an attempt to learn more about the mysterious great-grandmother she barely knew anything about had turned into a full-fledged hobby. She had been slowly working her way through the photographs, scrapbooks, letters, and keepsakes she had inherited from her mother, trying to put names to faces and stories to names.

Serena had learned that stopping by her mother’s house on a quiet afternoon now came with certain risks. There would probably be coffee. There might be cookies. But sooner or later, Claire would bring out a photo album.

Serena really didn’t mind.

On this particular afternoon, the dining room table was covered with photographs, handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, envelopes, and several generations of relatives Serena had already managed to confuse with one another. She pointed to a faded photograph and asked, “Wait, is this the aunt who married the pharmacist?”

Claire glanced over her glasses. “No. That’s the aunt who ran away with the pharmacist.”

“Oh,” Serena said, looking at the photograph again. “That’s much better.”

Laughing, Claire turned another heavy black page. “Now, this one you should remember.”

Tucked beneath two worn photo corners was a picture of a young woman standing beside a lake. Her long dress brushed the wooden walkway beneath her feet, and dark curls framed a face that immediately caught Serena’s attention. Even though she had seen Margaret’s picture before, the resemblance was still startling.

“Margaret,” Serena said.

Claire smiled. Yes, Margaret E. Delaney. Your great-great-grandmother.”

“She really does look like me,” Serena said as she leaned closer. This photograph was different from the one they had found before. Margaret stood beside the water with a tartan basket looped over one arm, and peeking over its edge was the tiny face of a Yorkshire terrier. Serena grinned. “Please tell me we know the dog’s name.”

“Pip,” Claire answered.

“Of course it was Pip,” Serena said.

Claire slid the album closer. “I found some notes about this picture in one of Grandma’s boxes. It was taken in the autumn of 1901, the same year as the other photograph we found. Margaret was twenty-seven.”

According to the notes, Margaret loved walking around the lake, and Pip went almost everywhere with her—usually in the basket, despite being perfectly capable of walking.

“Why walk when you can make someone carry you?” Serena asked.

Claire laughed. “Apparently Pip agreed.”

Claire reminded Serena of some of the family stories they had uncovered the last time they looked through her mother’s things. Margaret had been considered a little unusual. She talked to birds, squirrels, frogs, dogs, anything that would listen. She never claimed the animals actually spoke back, but she believed they noticed things people often missed.

“I remember hearing that,” Serena said. “And she could predict storms.”

Claire nodded. “At least that’s what the family said. Grandma claimed Margaret could look at a perfectly pleasant sky and announce that rain was coming long before anyone else suspected it.”

“That still sounds less mysterious and more like living before weather apps,” Serena said.

Claire gave her daughter a look. “Would you like to tell the story?”

“Nope,” Serena replied, taking a bite from a cookie. “You’re doing great.”

Claire turned the page and pointed to several paragraphs written in faded ink by an unknown author. One October afternoon, Margaret had taken Pip for their usual walk. The weather was warm and golden, with hardly a cloud worth worrying about. Leaves blew across the lake while swans drifted among the lily pads. Then Margaret began noticing little changes around her. The birds were flying low over the water. The ducks were moving toward shore. Even a frog sitting beside the walkway suddenly disappeared.

“The frog made it into the family history?” Serena asked.

“Apparently the frog was very important,” Claire replied.

Margaret looked toward the far side of the lake and spotted a thin gray band forming above the trees. She knew a storm was coming and turned toward home, but Pip suddenly began squirming in his basket. Something white had caught his attention among the reeds near the water. At first Margaret thought it might be a bird, but when she stepped closer, she discovered a folded piece of paper snagged on a branch.

“It was a letter,” Claire said.

“She read it, didn’t she?” Serena asked.

“According to the story, she only unfolded it because she was looking for a name so she could return it,” Claire said.

Serena smiled. “That sounds suspiciously like something you’d say before reading somebody else’s letter.”

Claire ignored the accusation and continued. The paper was damp but still readable, and the first line stopped Margaret cold: My dearest Margaret—

Serena stared at her mother. “No.”

Claire nodded. “Yes.”

“What else did it say?” Serena asked.

“I don’t know,” Claire said. “Grandma never showed me the letter. She just told me the story. But there was one line she always remembered.”

Claire paused before repeating it.

“Meet me at the lake before the storm.“

Serena leaned back in her chair. “That is either incredibly romantic or the beginning of a murder mystery.”

“My feelings exactly,” Claire said.

“So what happened?” Serena asked.

Claire turned the page.

Nothing.

Serena blinked. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Claire said.

Whoever recorded the story had either never learned what happened next or possessed a cruel sense of dramatic timing. Serena flipped the page back and forth in disbelief.

“You cannot tell me Margaret finds a mysterious letter addressed to her, telling her to meet someone at the lake before a storm, and then there’s just… nothing,” Serena said.

Claire reached for another stack of loose papers she had taken from one of her mother’s boxes. “There might be more in here. I’m nowhere near finished going through everything yet. I keep finding things tucked inside other things.”

That caught Serena’s attention. The first time they had discovered Margaret, Serena had wondered whether any of her letters or journals might have survived. Now, sitting among the very boxes that had sparked Claire’s new genealogy obsession, that possibility suddenly seemed a little less far-fetched.

Serena looked again at Margaret’s photograph. For a moment, the century between them seemed surprisingly thin. She could almost picture her standing beside the lake, Pip shifting restlessly in his basket while autumn leaves swirled around them and thunder rumbled somewhere beyond the trees.

And perhaps, on the opposite shore, someone was waiting.

Serena pulled the next scrapbook toward her and opened the cover.

Claire smiled. “I thought you were getting tired of this.”

Serena glanced at Margaret’s photograph once more. “Not anymore.”

Then she began turning the pages.

CREDITS

Serena

WINGS TF1015 Hair
Angel Eyes Messy 17 Hairbase
IKON Bliss Eyes
Glam Affair Lybra
AvaWay Paulina Earrings
AvaWay Paulina Necklace
Belle Epoque Arane (NEW @ WLRP)
PETHOUSE Yorkie Pumpkin Carrier