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Chapter 1, Plate 1 1846 "Girl in the Presence of Death"

• Myrtle narrates the first chapter.

• Myrtle is an orphan the Hardy family takes in when there is an outbreak of smallpox. They intend to send her back to the orphanage, but the Hardys' daughter, Beatrice, persuades her parents to adopt her.
• Myrtle becomes part of the family; Mrs Hardy even teaches her how to read.

• Mrs. Hardy is obsessed with her son, George, and asks Myrtle to follow him around. Myrtle soon falls in love with George, rarely leaving his side.
• One day Myrtle follows George to the Washington Hotel. After he has an argument his friend, William Rimmer, George goes to one of the poorer areas of the city.

• Myrtle follows George to a rundown house where he meets a woman.
• The woman takes George to the third floor of what is a whorehouse. His father, Mr. Hardy, is...

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