That night, Mrs. Whitcombe called Corinne into her room for a very long talk.
No one knew what the two of them discussed behind closed doors. But after that meeting, Corinne's influence in the Whitcombe household faded until it was barely noticeable.
She stopped managing the family accounts and stopped interfering with the kitchen. All she did each day was water the flowers, watch television, and drink tea with her old friends.
When she occasionally stopped by the kitchen, she would even greet me with a smile and say, "Romilly, thank you for all your hard work."
It was as though nothing had ever happened. As though she weren't the same person who had helped her younger brother siphon nearly $40,000 from the family's accounts.
Sabine officially took over the family's finances not long
