QHO-0003: The Locket with No Photo Inside

A silver heart-shaped locket. The photograph inside has been removed. The chain shows signs of frequent wear.

They say she wore it beneath her stays, where even the most curious eyes could not pry. Silver, heart-shaped, and clasped shut with a determination born of both devotion and fear.

The image once held inside, now long removed, was said to be of a schoolmistress. Her hair was always pinned just so, her voice low and melodic, her gaze gentle but unwavering. Some recall the two women walking arm-in-arm along the clifftop path, laughing as though there were no eyes to watch them.

When discovery loomed (whether by rumour or by letter) the locket was opened in haste, the photograph burned in the grate of a quiet parlour, its ashes scattered among dried heather. Only the locket survived. It was tucked into the hem of a petticoat bound for Inverness, hidden but not forgotten.

This object is all that remains of what was once everything.