Victorian Valentine Card with Young Girl & Red Heart - Antique Greeting

While the card proclaims an 'Affectionate Greeting to my Valentine,' its imagery tells a different story—a curly-haired child appears trapped inside a gold-trimmed red heart and suspended by pink ribbons like a portrait in a very romantic haunted house, staring out with the serene confidence of someone who has absolutely no idea they've been decapitated for Valentine's Day. The forget-me-nots clustered in the lower left are doing heavy lifting as the only botanical witnesses to this cheerful beheading, which is exactly what a Victorian would commemorate after gifting someone a child's head on a satin ribbon.