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It took ten ed victorious with the lock successfully picked She lifted the lid, an arthritic creak sounding froes

Her first gli She didn’t expect to see a haphazard collection of personal iteanization

Abby frowned, staring down into theshe’d found so far had been folded, wrapped, placed just so Items had been deliberately and carefully packed But not this In the mess she made out a hairbrush and comb, the handle of a —she’d have to be careful of that A dusting-powder box was tilted on its side; Abby picked it up, leveled it out, and carefully lifted the pale pink lid adorned with painted lily of the valley

The soft floral scent rose in the air and she put the lid on her lap so she could pick up the puff The poas half gone … Abby sed It was strange It was like someone had simply dumped the contents of a vanity table into one chest without consideration

She found the broken mirror piece and set it aside There was a beaded clutch purse, e with makeup inside—Pan-Cake foundation, an eye pencil, and a tube of brilliant red lipstick A novel with a bookh—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

It bore all the signs of a life interrupted

There were hair ribbons and a jewelry box filled with costu, heavy—which, when opened, revealed a waterfall of real jewels A rope of creamy pearls, a teardrop dia chandelier earrings

Who in their right mind would pack these away and put them in a corner of an attic? If they were indeed real—and she was nearly certain they were—they orth

a lot of money

Marian’s things? Or her mother’s?

She went through ers touched a leather book cover She prised it out and brushed off the surface It had once held a lock, she realized, but the lock and key were le, as if they’d been pried open

She opened the cover

Diary of Edith Foster, 1943–

There was no end date

She turned the yellowed pages, drawn in to the voice of her great-grand pages were filled with daily activities and latest accomplishments It was equally clear that Edith was not as contented with her autocratic husband, who took a strong view on a wife’s vow of obedience Abby sensed the relief Edith had felt when Elijah joined up after Pearl Harbor, and how the athtened in his absence Beneath the harsh light of the single attic bulb, Abby drank in the pages describing how the love affair between Edith and the chauffeur blossoentle, a welcoh, Edith said, and made her feel beautiful and special Abby was half in love with him herself as she read on about their affair, the clandestine rendezvous, and the way he snuck pepper