Armed with Maeve’s name, the liquidators conducted a thorough search of the desk drawers remaining in the estate’s main house. Tucked behind a false back in an old mahogany bureau, they uncovered a sealed, unsigned envelope written in Evelyn’s unsteady handwriting.
The note inside was brief and filled with regret. Evelyn admitted taking the ring back out of pride and fear of poverty, but confessed she had never been able to bring herself to wear it or sell it.
“The ring belongs to Maeve,” the letter read. “It was given to clear a debt of honor. If I die before making amends, sell it and ensure she receives what she earned.” Evelyn had hidden the note away, never showing it to her daughter. Clara had known nothing about the unpaid wages or her mother’s quiet guilt.