A Very Selwick Christmas by Lauren Willig

Author:Lauren Willig [Willig, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-11-08T01:13:03+00:00

* * *

The holly was bobbing loose against her cheek again.

Plucking it out, Amy let it drop onto one of the small tables that littered the hallway. She wasn"t feeling terribly festive at the moment. In the space of five minutes, the entire holiday had gone as rancid as last year"s Christmas pudding.

It couldn"t be a good thing when one"s husband of nine months started suggesting cross-Channel living arrangements.

There was a cold breeze in the center hall, snaking under the heavily carved panels of the front door, whistling around the corners of the windows, lurking beneath the great curved dome of a ceiling that soared three stories above. The greenery Lady Uppington had draped across every available surface ought to have leant warmth to the space but the vast proportions of the chamber seemed to dwarf all human efforts. Amy pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders.

There was someone else in the hall, blending neatly into the wall. It was Jane, holding a creased piece of paper close by one of the tall branches of candles that lit the hall.

“What are you reading?” Amy asked, crossing the hall to her cousin.

“Just some… verse,” said Jane abstractedly.

“Verse?” It was Mrs. Ramsby, standing in the open door of the receiving room.

In a moment, Jane had gone from an accomplished operative to a blushing debutante. The transformation was astounding. A gentle flush stained her perfect porcelain cheeks as she modestly lowered her eyelashes. “Just—just a poem,” she faltered, the picture of maidenly guilt. “From a friend.”

Pat on her cue, Miss Gwen stalked out from behind Mrs. Ramsby. “A gentleman friend, no doubt,” she snarled. “Give it here.”

Jane pressed the scrap of paper to her chest, looking imploringly at her chaperone.

Miss Gwen extended her hand.

Reluctantly, clinging to the paper until the last moment, Jane surrendered the forbidden token to her chaperone.

It was, thought Amy, better than the dumb show in Hamlet, and far better acted than most theatricals she had seen, even at the Comedie Francaise.

“One of those London bucks, I shouldn"t wonder,” snapped Miss Gwen, reveling in her role.

“Hmph!”

“It"s just a poem,” offered Amy, doing her best to play along, but something about the smoothness of the interplay between Jane and Miss Gwen made her feel like a grain of sand that had somehow got into a well-oiled clockwork.

Miss Gwen turned the full force of her glower on her former charge. “Poems today, love letters tomorrow. Don"t think I"ve forgotten your example, missy!”

“Hullo! What"s everyone doing out here?” Henrietta poked her head around the door, followed by Lady Jerard. Amy could have hugged her. Henrietta, that was. Not Lady Jerard.

“Don"t worry. You"re not missing anything at charades. Miles is being a glass elephant again.”

An indignant howl came from within the reception room. “They hadn"t guessed it yet!”

echoed hollowly through the hall.

“They were going to!” Henrietta tossed back blithely over her shoulder. “He"s always a glass elephant. What"s the entertainment out here? Mummers? Morris dancers?”

“Poetry,” offered Amy.

“Oh,” breathed Lady Jerard. “Did Richard write you poetry, too? I mean—oh dear, I shouldn"t have said that, should I?”

Amy tossed her head.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.