CHAPTER 4: The Widow Everyone Measured

The guests measured Eleanor in careful glances.
They measured her thinner face, the silver in her hair, the slow way she lowered herself into the chair. They measured Adrian's distance from her and Vanessa's confidence beside him. Wealthy people rarely ask who holds power. They watch who is allowed to interrupt whom.
A cousin near the fireplace lifted his brows at Eleanor's seat and then looked quickly away. A trustee checked his phone. Two donors whispered, then laughed too softly.
Only the kitchen staff reacted with pain. Maria, the housekeeper who had served the Whitcombs for thirty years, stopped with a tray in her hands. Her mouth tightened when she saw Eleanor by the service door.
Eleanor gave her the faintest shake of her head.
Not yet.
Maria lowered her eyes and continued walking, but the anger in her shoulders did not disappear.