London, May : Tessa Gray arrives at the London dock aboard the Main, expecting to find her brother Nathaniel waiting for her. Before, Tessa was living in New York with her Aunt Harriet, but her aunt had died recently and her brother asked her to come stay with him in London. At the port, Tessa finds the Dark Sisters, Mrs. Dark and Mrs. Black, instead of her brother, who have a letter from him saying that he could not meet her because of business, but that the sisters will bring her to him.