The Sea Chest

Chapter 2

With a great hrmph that is neither ladylike nor proper, Lillian grabs the papers that Frederick's picked up and collects another handful from the sea chest. There are glass negatives tucked into neat little wooden boxes and, Lillian bites back a bark of astonished laughter, books.There are books. Not just manuscripts, but perfectly serviceable, perfectly non-descript books. She gathers up a handful of them too and sweeps from the attic in a swirl of too-heavy skirts and a desperate need for a summer dress. She hasn't even reached the landing before she hears an "Oh Freddie" from upstairs and she has to hold back the urge to march back up and push them both from the window. That was probably the best option, but she isn't that foolish. The Bellacourts cannot exist without an heir, and Frederick, regrettably, is that person.

Hortense says that there are reports that women are lobbying for inheritance rights in some of the newspapers she takes. Lillian likes the idea, but that isn't how things are done. Certainly not for the very wealthy. The magnet empire will go to Freddie and she will marry someone suitable and take her rightful place in society on the Newport 400.

First she'll take Rhode Island, and then she's got her eyes set on the upper crust of New York and Boston society. Someday she'll be the most famous woman in the country.

First things first: these books are a far more pressing issue that her continued quest for influence over the unpopular masses.

There really has to be a logical explanation to these books. Lillian refuses to believe that her father just has these locked away in a sea chest behind a hidden panel (Freddie and Bea can figure out how to explain how the wall got broken, Lillian's having no part in that) for no reason. They have to be important. They have to mean something.

She has to investigate.

It takes a few moments to locate the maid and demand "something cool" to drink before collapsing onto her bed. The papers and books tumble out of her hands and she lets out a long, drawn out groan.

What is this? A family secret? A great mystery she has to solve?

Lillian hasn't got the energy. It's too hot, too uncomfortable to do much more than breathe and boss the servants around. The maid appears with a glass of something that is warm and it takes most of Lillian's energy to throw it back in the girl's face and demand she do it better.

Ugh. How on earth can the Bellacourts employ such incompetent fools?

A book is digging into her side and she pulls it out from under her and stares at the title. "The Lady in White." It sounds like a ghost story. A quick flip through reveals that it is anything but a ghost story.

"Her fingers twisted in his hair and his excitement pressed against her stom— Oh that is vulgar!"

She wants to stop. She wants to throw the book away and maybe burn it. The problem is that Lillian has 

always been curious. She likes to know secrets and disdainful information. It makes for better blackmail purposes later on. Her mother's boasted that she's a genius at it, and Lillian likes to think that if mother says it, it must be true. She grips the book tightly and tries to will herself to stop. If she stops it will be better. If she stops she can just forget she made this discovery.

The woman in the story is crying out. The great hulking man of her dreams on top of her and taking her like a beast. Lillian keeps reading, her tongue is caught between her teeth.