“That’s my Leo!” Izzy said, laughing. “Always so practical.”
“It’s quite safe,” Gerald said. “We trimmed the needles so the candle flame won’t come into contact with them. And I have a bucket of water here, behind it, just in case.”
“And we won’t leave it unattended,” Lord Tarrant added.
“It’s gorgeous,” Lady Tarrant said, “and it smells so beautiful and fresh.”
“Yes, that fresh-cut pine smell is part of the magic, I think,” Lucy said. “James and Gerald went out yesterday to one of James’s properties and found us the perfect tree. They smuggled it into the house at dead of night so no little eyes would see them.”
A hush fell then as they simply sat and gazed at the beautiful little tree. And then, out of the silence, a quavering old voice began singing “Joy to the World,” and immediately they all joined in. By the end, most of the women in the room had tears in their eyes, Zoë too.
It was her first real experience of a family Christmas, surrounded by people she loved, who loved her, and with the added magic of children and their open delight. Andthen dear Lady Scattergood, who reminded them what Christmas was all about.
After a while, Lord and Lady Tarrant organized their children to select their nut, sweet and gingerbread biscuit and get ready for bed.
“One more thing,” Lucy said. “Gerald?”
Gerald produced three small parcels. “A little Christmas gift for each of you.” The girls immediately sat down on the floor and opened their little parcels. Each one contained some more sweets and a crystal Christmas bauble—a horse for Judy, a rose for Lina and a cat for Debo. “Take good care of them. Next year you can hang your bauble on the tree,” Lucy said, “and by the time you’re grown up enough to have your own tree, you will have a collection of your own.”
Then the children said their good nights, with kisses and hugs and curtsies, and went off upstairs to bed, after which the men snuffed all the candles.
Later, they were still talking about the tree over dinner, and Lady Tarrant said, “You know, now that I think about it, our dear late Queen, Queen Charlotte, did something similar at Windsor one year. It was a party for children, I think. I didn’t see it myself, but I heard talk of it. Did none of you hear of it? No, I suppose it was before your time. I was a new bride myself.”
“I know several other people who do this sort of thing, but I’ve never seen it myself,” said Lady Scattergood. Which was not surprising, seeing as she rarely left her house, but nobody pointed that out.
“It’s a charming tradition, and I, for one, am going to adopt it,” Alice said. “Thank you, Lucy and Gerald. And Zoë.” They all raised their glasses in a toast.
“And James, for the tree,” Gerald added, “even though he hadn’t a clue what we planned for it.” They all laughed and toasted Lord Tarrant.
After dinner, they escorted Lady Scattergood and hersedan chair home, and then the rest of them went off in a group to attend the midnight service.
As they stepped out of the church, with bells across the city joyfully ringing out the birth of the Christ child, fat flakes of white began to drift down from the darkness overhead.
“Oh, snow! That makes this the most perfect of all Christmas days,” Clarissa exclaimed. And the others all agreed.
Foxton Place, East Anglia
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve dawned chilly and overcast, but Julian was up early and feeling energetic. He had a lot to do if he was to get through his Christmas duties. He planned to leave for London as soon as he possibly could.
It was several years since he’d spent Christmas at Foxton Place. He’d generally been abroad, which the locals had taken as a reasonable excuse, but now that he was here and Christmas almost upon them, the locals had been loud in their enthusiastic celebration of the fact that the earl was at home, where he belonged.
He’d completed his examination of the estate books and found everything in good condition. He and Cartwright had discussed some agricultural innovations he’d read about, and Cartwright had agreed to try them. So he could leave with a clear conscience once Christmas was over.
He’d already ordered the preparation of a Christmas feast and invited the vicar and most of the foremost citizens of the estate. With Cartwright’s assistance, he’d arranged the Christmas boxes that would be given out on Boxing Day and also made a list of the poorer families in the neighborhood, who would be given an additional basket of food this morning so they could celebrate Christmas. He’d even glanced through the lesson that he would read in church.
Best of all, he’d written polite refusals to the many invitations to dinners, balls and other gatherings that had arrived from some of the foremost families of the county, many of whom, he suspected, had unmarried daughters. He explained that commitments in Town—unnamed and imaginary, though he didn’t mention that—required him to be in London by the New Year.
Acting as Lord of the Manor had never come easy to him. His father and brother had relished their positions and given orders without hesitation or reflection, but Julian wasn’t at all comfortable with that. He disliked having other people’s fates in his hands, but he’d learned in the army that there was no avoiding responsibility. During the war he’d taken good care of the men under his command, and now he was conscientious in carrying out his duty as the earl. It didn’t mean he enjoyed it.
But he refused to let the title and its attendant responsibilities dominate his life, so he’d made the compromise that made his life bearable.
It was late on the morning of Christmas Eve when a large traveling coach laden with luggage bowled down the drive and came to a halt in front of the house. Julian glanced out the window and groaned. What the devil was she doing here? When he’d seen her in London recently, she’d made no mention of coming to Foxton Place for Christmas.
Accepting the inevitable, he pasted a pleasant expression on his face and went out to greet his grandmother. Hamish followed and was instantly shooed away.
“I knew you would need my guidance in performing your duties as the earl during this season, seeing as you’ve generally managed to avoid it,” she said in response to his greeting.
