Divorce Me If You Dare: The Hidden Queen's Revenge novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Ladies' Luncheon

Marguerite Farwell chaired the Lakeshore Church Women's Luncheon every second Monday, and she never missed one.

At noon, Cora walked into the parish hall alone.

There were eighty women at round tables, and a banner over the stage that read "Mothers of the Parish."

Marguerite stood at the head table in a pale blue suit, with her pearls on and her chair's ribbon pinned to her lapel.

She saw Cora, and her smile slipped off.

"This is a private event," she said, loud enough for the room.

"I'm a donor," Cora said. "Larkspur paid for the hall roof. I'd like a seat."

The pastor's wife, a round woman with kind eyes, pulled out a chair beside her own.

Cora sat.

On every table stood a small pot of golden broth with a sprig of thyme.

A woman across from her sipped from a cup and sighed.

"Marguerite's restorative broth," she said. "She makes it for the sick every winter. I don't know where she finds the patience."

"Ginger, lemon rind and licorice root," Cora said.

The woman looked up.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Two hours at a low simmer," Cora said. "Start it at 5:30, strain it twice, and never let it boil. If you boil the licorice it goes bitter."

Marguerite had gone very still.

"That recipe is mine," she said.

"Page forty-one of the green notebook," Cora said. "In my handwriting. I wrote it the winter Brooks's stomach gave out, five years ago, and I've made it every morning since. You took the notebook from me on the night I left."

A murmur ran along the tables.

"Cora," Marguerite said, with a brittle laugh. "You're upset. Brooks warned us you might be."

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