Chapter 6
Sabine came willingly.
That worried me more than resistance.
She entered my library wearing dark green.
Of course.
She looked at the bracelet and smiled faintly.
“Helena always had excellent taste.”
I wanted her out immediately.
Instead I asked:
“Did Helena ask to be buried with it?”
“Yes.”
Straight answer.
“Then why remove it?”
“Because Helena was wrong.”
There it was.
No shame.
Sabine believed the Green Chain protected households from chaos.
Without a recognized senior woman, domestic influence scattered.
Fiancées fought staff.
Widows competed.
Relatives bypassed boundaries.
She was not entirely wrong about the problem.
She was wrong about the solution.
“So you decided my mother’s grave was a storage cabinet.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“Do not be vulgar.”
I almost smiled.
“Interesting request.”
Sabine explained that Helena’s burial choice had created a vacuum.
For nine years, no woman had worn the bracelet.
Several older branches resented it.
They considered Winslowe House “without a lady.”
I disliked that phrase.
Apparently my existence did not prevent strangers from deciding my home was incomplete.
Sabine saw my engagement as opportunity.
Octavia could restore continuity.
The bracelet would make the transition obvious.
Staff would recognize it.
Old relatives would relax.
All without awkward conversations about authority.
Exactly.
No conversations.
Just a dead woman’s jewelry doing the coercion.
“Who else knew?”
Sabine gave me six names.
Three elderly relatives.
Two former household managers.
One family widow.
None had opened the grave.
But all expected to see Octavia wearing green emeralds at our wedding dinner.
They had already promised to treat her word as Helena’s successor inside the household.
Without asking me.
Without asking the household.
Without asking whether Octavia deserved that trust.
I looked at Sabine.
“You weren’t preserving tradition.”
She raised one eyebrow.
“No?”
May you like
“You were installing authority without consent.”
For the first time, her smile disappeared.
