The Empress's Second Chance

isfaction. The first hurdle was cleared. My old maid, Martha, who had been with my

ht? The Madam was furious w

ess. In my past life, she had secretly slipped me bread and old blankets

aid, patting her wrinkled

t. My mind was clear, m

the steward and tell him I require the carriage a

"The carriage?

"And one more thing. Pack up all of my father' s old books on

th exotic flowers and featuring a heated pavilion for winter days. It was the courtyard that should have been mine. My father had built it

d Emily. I paused behind a large decorative screen near the open window

s high and petulant. "She' s trying to humiliate me

She' s probably already been eliminated. She has no real talent, not like you. She

ly whined. "What if she actually gets

The best she could hope for is a position as a low-level clerk, and what good would that do? Y

still ignited a cold fire in my chest. They saw me as noth

heard

ehind the screen and

. Emily gasped, and my mother

ng here? You should knock

e luxurious silks and expensive furniture that had been b

"Don' t be ridiculous. This has been Emily' s r

sly quiet. "You decided it was f

hrinking back into her cushioned cha

my clothes, and my resourc

ow what you mean. I would never take anything from you. If you wanted t

he generous victim and me as the cruel aggresso

e upsetting her, Sarah. You' ve been

s black as yours, Mother. I' m not interested in her phony charity

one my father had commissioned for my sixteenth

And I want everything that w

ized. "You can' t just

d the preliminary selection today. The next round requires prope

' s official seal and the deeds to properties he had earned through his military servic

e snapped. "The vault is for famil

now that its hopes are no longer pinned on someone who can' t even pass the first round on her own merit. Give me the key, Mother. Or

reat of public intervention, of having our family' s dirty laundry aired

lance of power in the Thompson hous