CHAPTER 12: Rain Against the Stained Glass

Outside, rain strengthened against the tall windows until the saints in colored glass looked blurred by tears.
Inside, the old order of the room rearranged itself without anyone announcing it. Directors moved away from Julian. A cousin who had arrived hoping for a new invitation to Vale House suddenly found his umbrella fascinating. Celeste stood beside no one, which was how people discovered the true size of her power.
Reverend Alden folded the letter but did not return it to the envelope.
'There is one final instruction,' he said.
Julian's face hardened. 'Enough.'
Eleanor did not look at him. 'No,' she said. 'He gets to finish.'
The reverend nodded once and read the last paragraph.
Adrian requested that the funeral not proceed to burial until his final medical records were delivered to an independent examiner. He asked that the coffin remain under guard, not because he loved drama, but because he loved truth more than reputation.
No one in the chapel called that request dramatic. Not anymore.