I shall have to go to the bank again tomorrow, as I have given Henrietta a fairly tidy sum of money to take custody of Mr. Purvis’s snakes. She made it clear that it was not the sort of task that she would have taken upon herself without the incentive of monetary compensation, and that snakes in general were not her forte, but given my insistence, she promised that she would at least try. I assisted her in moving the aquarium to her rooms, and honestly, I feel that she’s beginning to take a shine to them. …Probably wishful thinking on my part. Time shall tell, I suppose.

I am not sure what had been coming over me as I stood there, alone, looking over the two snakes – I had suddenly felt so protective of them, almost maternally so. There was a drive, a NEED to keep them safe and hidden away from the world. The stress and excitement from the past two days must be affecting me. I have my job back. I murdered a broken woman. I watched Mrs. Hurchur…

I don’t want to think about what it was that Mrs. Hurchur did, actually. I have resigned myself to the realization that there will eventually come a time when I have to, but for now – for tonight – maybe that whole event is a thing that I can put out of my mind. Henrietta had mentioned before going to bed that she had talked with the woman. I should have been a good friend listened to what she had to say, but it was all that I could do to not run from the room with my hands clapped over my ears. I feel bad for this. It is something that I will have to make up for.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The point is that in light of all of these events, I must have found myself compelled by a deep and selfish desire to hide myself away from the world, just like Mr. Purvis had done. How simple it would have been to shed all of my obligations and just pretend that life outside of the old house no longer existed. But then Henrietta walked into the room and her presence shook me from my reverie.

I am thankful for this. Simplicity sounds divine and I have always been a bit of a coward, but simplicity earned through cowardice is not the life for me.