Her Second Chance At Love

architecture of her marriage. She systematically liquidated the assets Eleanor had

a parure of antique jewelry,

sessed the foresight to furni

currency, depositing the sums into a new

New York, a long-dormant ambition resurfaci

become a tangible,

personal documents, Amelia returned to the steri

ithin was still and heavy, freighted with the sc

study, she detected sound

ces, then a soft la

the heart, but with a familiar, aci

open the be

champagne cooling in a silver bucket on the nightstand. T

ound of revulsion es

red, Jessica momentarily discomposed before h

k sheet higher. "Behold what the cat has drag

gown. "Amelia! What in God's name are y

was harsh,

bling despite her resolve. "At least, until the decr

e, in the bed she had once regarded as the symb

ocrite, Amelia. This is the very scene you

the early, hopeful days of their union, her naive a

instead forged something within Amel

irrevocabl

ear, stripped of any tremor. "I did dream of

ectly in the eye,

future, I would sooner be rendered to dust and scattered on a barren field than to ent

d with a convictio

known him, the intricate machinery of his self-possession seemed to falte

mouth, then cl

ked...

ous shift in the dynamic

end of concern and distress. "Pay her no mind. She

er eyes flicking towards Am

y, his gaze still fixed on Amelia, a

's resolute face, the chilling echo of

eigned agitation, he nicked his finger on the sh

op of blood

ds. He watched the single bead of crimson well upon his sk

er be render

y... it troubled him more

lways given to dramatic pronouncements. Thi

remained, a knot