X.

The interior consisted of two floors. Stuart was surrounded by many objects from all sides, but most of them were covered with white sheets. He felt small and poor in an environment full of valuable items. He imagined velvet-lined chairs, mahogany desks and modern devices like radio hidden beneath the sheets. Regina inherited a rich legacy. While she was leading him into the dining room, his stare was passing over the walls. Where once stood big pictures, bright rectangular gaps disturbed the uniformity of ornamental wallpapers. He asked Regina why had she taken the pictures off.

"I put away everything I could", she answered nonchalantly. "Everything is in the attic. I put most of the furniture there, too." She started laughing because of the surprise on his face. "Aye, there's more than what you've seen in the hallway. There was a huge globe in the living room, an empty vintage showcase in the kitchen and all sort of things which my father inherited before me... We spent little time in this house. Dad preferred humble life, as do I."

The room was empty besides two chairs and a long table on which a big porringer was already placed. Just like in his brother's house, the building was made so that the kitchen was separated from the dining room and Regina had to go to the basement for cutlery. "I'm sure servants used to work here", she explained before leaving. "In the early thirties or so. It's much harder to manage living in here on your own."

"Why don't you employ a helper?"

She gave him a scolding look. "I believe that to be a thing of the past. People should learn to serve themselves! Oh", she smiled, "I forgot how much you love oldish customs."

"I used to live in a similar house", he said thinking of the place he grew up in. "It was a bit smaller, but very fancy considering what the surrounding was like. In the village way up north."

While he was waiting for Regina to come back, he remembered the sleeping room which he shared with Oliver when they were kids. It seemed huge like a castle when they were little. Mother would make them go to sleep early, but Oliver would always sneak out of his bed and crawl under Stuart's covers. First they played silly childish games until they'd fall asleep, but later, when Oliver went to boy school and would come home only occasionally, they'd spend nights talking. Oliver told Stuart stories and gossips he heard at school or explain lessons he listened to. Stuart eagerly listened and believed in everything his older brother told. Their mother scolded their childish behaviour. She knew about their night-time tricks, but tolerated them when they were younger. She considered them inappropriate for adolescent boys.

"Here, serve yourself!" Stuart filled his plate with soup.

When they ate up, Stuart asked Regina about the rest of the house. She was unwilling to show him around. She felt no nostalgia nor had memories connected to it. "The whole place is just too big", she said, "I get out whenever I can. Selling it will make me happy."

Stuart thought it might be a nice place if the sheets were removed from the furniture, but couldn't imagine only one person living here. A strange vision came to his mind; him and Regina living here together as content companions... companions of what sort?

"Anyway", her words pulled him back into reality, "I really want to see those photos. Would you mind if we go to the studio now?"

Now or later, what does it matter, he thought.

He didn't open the envelope before handing it over to Regina. Her fingers gently slipped through the opening, pictures were slowly taken out. Stuart held his breath while she was looking at the first and the smallest photos taken by Kodak. Her face lacked readable expression. Am I mad, or is it the worse possibility? Though he knew not what the worse possibility represented. She continued to the calotype photos.

Her confused grimace brought Stuart both relief and dread. "What's all this?", she asked silently after some time of observation. "These can't be the photos I took... They're..."

"So they are", he agreed though the description wasn't pronounced. "I was scared of showing them to you... Scared it might be in my head, meaning I went crazy, but also scared it might prove to be real."

"Real?", she sounded offended. "Are you making fun of me or what? What the hell is this!?" Waving photos in the air, Regina threateningly stepped forward, but Stuart remained motionless. Anger melted into anxiety when it came to Regina that Stuart hadn't meddled with the photos. "What the hell", she repeated, "this woman was dead. How is this possible?"

"It happened before", Stuart said. "When you were here for the first time, I sold a photo in which woman's hand was moved. But I looked through the lens before the photo was taken, and it was placed as the family demanded. Nobody saw any kind of movement while the photo was being taken." Looking behind himself at the exposed cameras, he went on: "I wanted to try out your cameras to see whether the photos would turn out normal... But this time only the daguerreotype turned out alright. I couldn't give these to the family. They're..."

"Abnormal", Regina remembered the word they needed to describe them. She seemed very distressed, but refused to sit when Stuart recommended her to rest. "I must go", she declared after a short silence. She pushed the photos away from herself, but Stuart didn't want to take them. Now that he was sure there was something wrong with them, he was scared of looking at them, not to speak of touching them. She left them on the desk. "I have something to do."

"Will you come back?" It suddenly occurred to him that he might have driven her away by showing her the photos.

Powerful sparkle in her eyes made him shiver. "Tomorrow."