Beatrice called on a Thursday afternoon while Seraphina was in the middle of reorganising the conference room booking system, which had developed opinions about its own logic that she did not share.
She picked up immediately. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, my love." Beatrice's voice had its thin quality but was stable underneath. "I just wanted to hear your voice. And to tell you, I saw the photograph."
Seraphina pressed the phone closer. "Beatrice..."
"I think you look beautiful." A pause. "The green suits you."
"Beatrice."
"The man is looking at you the way your grandfather used to look at your grandmother." Another pause. "I just thought you should know someone noticed."
Seraphina sat with that for a moment and did not trust herself to say anything useful.
"How are things at the house?" she said instead.
