Hazel pressed on before courage abandoned her. “You are grown now. You must decide what sort of young woman you wish to be, what you want from your lives, and then act accordingly. I cannot, nor should I, direct every step for you anymore.”
Chastity blinked rapidly. “Are you… scolding us?”
“I am advising you,” Hazel corrected. “It is high time you began thinking beyond mischief and momentary thrills. Decide what you want. Pursue it with purpose. And stop relying on me to keep you from consequences.”
Patience set her teacup down with unusual care. “We do not rely on you.”
Hazel gave her a long look.
Patience sighed. “All right, we rely on you a little.”
“And you should rely on your older sister,” their mother exclaimed, as if this were the most reasonable truth ever uttered. “That is what elder daughters are for. You have always managed things beautifully. Why should that change now? Marriage ought not to transform a woman into a stranger to her own family.”
Hazel felt the shift inside her fully then, like a door that had been wedged open for years finally clicking shut.
“Mama,” she said quietly, “that is precisely what must change.”
Her mother blinked at her, looking utterly affronted. “Must? Hazel, I hardly think?—”
Hazel lifted a hand, and for once her mother actually fell silent.
“Mama,” she repeated, still gentle and completely in control of herself and her words, “you are asking me to abandon the very life I have just begun, simply to continue the duties you placed on me as a girl.”
Her mother straightened in her chair. “Placed on you? Hazel, do not be absurd. You took to responsibility naturally. You have always been sensible, far more sensible than your sisters.”
“We are sitting right here,” Chastity muttered, but neither adult seemed to hear her.
Hazel breathed in slowly. “I took responsibility because no one else would. Because someone had to keep this family from falling into chaos. Because you and Papa chose to step back, and once you stepped back, you never stepped forward again.”
A stunned silence fell across the table.
Her mother’s eyes widened, not with understanding but with shock. “Hazel! How dare you imply I neglected my own children!”
“I am not implying anything,” Hazel replied. “I am stating what happened.”
Her mother’s cheeks flushed. “I will not sit here and be accused?—”
“I am not accusing you, Mama.” Hazel leaned forward just slightly. “I am explaining why I cannot continue carrying burdens that were never meant to be mine alone.”
Patience and Chastity exchanged helpless glances.
Their mother pressed an offended hand to her chest. “You make it sound as though we chained you to your sisters as punishment.”
Hazel shook her head. “No. But when I took over your role, you let me. And when I kept taking on your role, you kept thanking me by assuming I always would. You placed every quarrel,every mischief, even every household concern,” her eyes flicked pointedly to the housekeeper peering through the window, “squarely onto my shoulders, even today.”
Her mother followed her gaze, stiffening. “Well, the housekeeper is accustomed to you. She trusts you.”
“She should trust you, but mostly, she should trustherself,” Hazel said. “And so should my sisters. They cannot grow if I never step aside.”
Her mother’s voice trembled with indignation. “You speak as though your own family has wronged you.”
Hazel swallowed the guilt rising like a tide. It was instinctive and born of years of smoothing ruffled feelings and avoiding disharmony. But she kept going.
“I speak,” she said softly, “as someone who has been tired for a very long time, as someone who has loved all of you fiercely, but who has been allowed to do so at her own expense.”
Her mother was speechless now. Chastity reached for Hazel’s hand. Patience did the same.
Hazel gave their fingers a small squeeze. “I will always care for you. But not in the same way as before. You must begin solving your own problems, taking charge of your own futures. That is the only way you will ever stand without me.”
