Thanks for the chapter!
The queen dowager...I'm glad she recognizes the flaw in her reasoning. Having to experience "pain and suffering" to get to a high place and being able to maintain her "pride as a noble" because of it is far different from Mildred, who underwent so much suffering and yet lost it all anyway, and she's not related to the royal fucking family to boot.
Like, she didn't even finish the end of her hypothetical scenario herself. OK, so her lady-in-waiting can't get remarried, has a bunch of daughters to care for, has too much pride to make money on her own. So where the fuck would the money come from? How would she decide to take care of her family? She legit heard "no I would not squander my pride as a noble because I was desperate" and was satisfied with that. Kudos to that maid for just blurting out it'd be better to be dead. Implying also, that it would be better if she and her children just disappeared and didn't have to deal with the shitshow of a hypothetical this woman just suggested...