“Please,” she murmured, leaning her head to the side to bare her neck to Arthur’s hands. “Call me Miriam.”

Through the mirror, she could feel his gaze where it rested on her. She did not return it, fancying herself far too coy. The doctor’s compliment earned a subtle quirk of her red painted lips.

Miriam accepted the necklace into a delicate hand. Cold fingers brushed over his, trailing from the center of his palm to his fingertips, yet her touch too was fleeting. She set down her necklace and earrings and leaned lightly into the hand that graced her hair, finally lifting her eyes to stare heavily upon his reflection.

“Yes, if you do not mind.”

She stood, and as she slowly pulled the pins from her hair, it fell in tousled blonde waves upon her shoulders. Reaching back, Miriam took Arthur's hands into her own and pulled them around her, bringing them to rest at her waist.

“Help me out of this corset,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder. “Unless you would prefer I keep it on.”