When the Colonel Came to the Estate

“We need to find Lila,” he said.

Dana nodded.

“We can begin with the information in the letters. Locations, dates, names. Carefully. Respectfully.”

Margaret, who had been silent for a long time, finally stepped fully into the room.

Her eyes moved across Eleanor’s bed, the desk, the photograph, the letters. Her expression was difficult to read. Grief, guilt, fear, and something like recognition moved through it.

“I knew Eleanor,” she said quietly.

Charles turned.

“You never said.”

Margaret gave a small, humorless laugh.

“In this family, not saying things was considered loyalty.”

No one interrupted.

Margaret touched the back of the chair by the desk but did not sit.

“She was kind to me,” she said. “When I first came here, before our engagement was formal. I was terrified of your father. Everyone was. Eleanor saw it. She told me never to let the house teach me to disappear.”