The Glass Gilded Cage

The muffled thud of a piano vibrated through the floorboards of the dressing room, a constant reminder of the leering crowd above. Inside the cramped, candle-lit space, Eliza scrubbed the greasepaint from her skin with trembling hands. Her sister, Clara, huddled in the shadows—a runaway from the workhouse whose presence now put both their lives in mortal peril.