The Spring of the Tiger by Victoria Holt

Spring of the Tiger - Sarah Ashington grew up in England with her actress mother. Her father lived in Ceylon. When her mother’s affair with a peer is exposed, the actress’s career is over and kills her. Sarah goes to her father’s tea plantation; meets her half sister; marries Clinton Shaw, who wants to combine his and her plantations. The backdrop theme though is the Ashington Pearls, a necklace that goes to the oldest son’s wife to wear until her oldest son is married.