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There wasn’t a question of whether they would all gather to honor their friends’ passings on the anniversaries of each, but there was a question of when.
For Quincey, it was straightforward – or rather, it would have been, had there not been the question of whether or not their number would be one more, or just on the cusp of it. A question, that of course, had to be written of with discretion. Nevertheless, it was soon sorted out that they would gather regardless, and the unwritten agreement that if the occasion were to call for the celebration of the Harkers’ newborn child (or if the matter resolved unhappily, the mourning of it), as well as the memorial for poor Quincey, so be it.
But first, Lucy’s memorial. And the timing of that was more nebulous. Should they gather on the year to the day of her death, to the day of her funeral, or to the day she was truly laid to rest? Was a memorial for when the deceased left the living, or when she found her way to heaven? A question of philosophy that was not easily answered.
The suggestion was raised that they gather for the whole duration between her death and her rest. But they all had their own lives and matters to attend to, and Mina would only be about a month away from her confinement, and not likely to well tolerate hosting the others for ten days, as much as she had wished to.
After several letters back and forth, they agreed to meet on the day of Lucy’s final death. Even if it would not make much sense to anyone who did not know of what had transpired, perhaps that was all the more reason to honor her memory on that day.