Porcelain and Prejudice

~VALERIE~

The china clinked softly as I arranged the delicate teacups on the silver tray, my hands steadier than my nerves.

Through the drawing room's open doors, I could hear the graceful chatter of Mrs. Miriam Vance's afternoon gathering…a monthly torture session she insisted on hosting here rather than at her estate.

"It's tradition, darling," she had told Donovan when he had protested yesterda