Vintage Halloween Greeting Card Children Dark Secret Edwardian

What exactly are these two Victorian toddlers consulting that fortune-telling book about? Two children in tiny chairs conduct what is clearly a clandestine palm-reading session, because apparently the best way to celebrate 'spooky holiday fun' is by having children dabble in the occult while a jack-o-lantern with dead hollow eyes watches approvingly from above. The girl in the white dress has the thousand-yard stare of someone who has already seen too much, while her red-jacketed companion looks genuinely disturbed by whatever fate has been foretold — probably because there's a book literally titled 'The True Fortune Teller' sitting open on the floor between them, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting for 'A dark secret.' Artist Ellen Clapsaddle, signed right there at the bottom like she wanted credit for unleashing this energy into the world, somehow convinced an entire generation that two grimly serious toddlers consulting a fortune-telling manual was charming Halloween content.