Anne Perry s Christmas Mysteries Page 0,42

beginning to smile, even if there was sadness in it, and pity.

***

In the morning Zachary drove her back through the deepening snow to St. Mary in the Marsh. He did not speak much, but she felt a great certainty that he had at last realized that Agnes was not a paler, second-best version of Bedelia, but a kinder if less brave person, a gentler, more generous one, who might now, at last, find the courage to be the best. And she had always truly loved him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Ellison," he said as the trap rounded the last corner through the dazzling snow and she saw Joshua and Caroline's house blazing with lights.

"I hope you will be happy," she replied, meaning it far more than the simple words could convey.

"I...I understand why you and Maude were such good friends," he said earnestly. "Even in so short a time. You are like her. You have such courage to tell the truth, however difficult, and such joy for life. I am amazed at your compassion for even the weakest of us. I imagine you will have a wonderful Christmas, because you will make it so. But I wish it for you just the same."

"I will," she assured him as they drew up in front of the door. It opened and Joshua came down the step and across the grass to the trap to assist her. "I shall have the best Christmas of my life," she went on, still speaking to Zachary. "I am beginning to understand what it truly means."

"Welcome home, Mama-in-law," Joshua said with surprise lifting his eyebrows. He gave her his arm and she alighted.

"Thank you, Joshua." She smiled at him. "Happy Christmas, my dear. I have wonderful things to tell you, brave and beautiful things, when I can think how to find words for them. About hope and honor, and what love really means. Your aunt Maude was a very wonderful woman. She has given me the greatest gift of all-an understanding of Christmas itself."

"Yes, I see that," Joshua said with sudden conviction. "It is perfectly plain. Happy Christmas, Mama-in-law."

Chapter Eight

A Christmas Secret

To all those who

would like to start again

CLARICE CORDE LEANED BACK IN HER SEAT AS the train pulled out of the station in a cloud of steam. Smuts flew and engine roared as they gathered speed on their journey northward. The rain beat against the window; she could barely see the glistening rooftops of London. It was December 14, 1890, ten days until Christmas Eve. She had been married little more than a year, and she was far from used to being a vicar's wife. Neither obedience nor tact came to her except with a considerable effort, but she made that effort for Dominic's sake.

She glanced sideways at him now and saw him deep in thought. She knew he was concerned about his ability to rise to this opportunity they had been offered so unexpectedly. The elderly Reverend Wynter had taken a richly deserved holiday; therefore his church, in the small village of Cottisham in Oxford-shire, needed someone to stand in for him and care for his flock over Christmas.

Dominic had seized the chance. He was a widower who had abandoned a self-indulgent life and embraced the ministry somewhat late. Perhaps no one but Clarice saw beyond his startlingly handsome face and charm of manner to the doubts beneath. She loved him the more fiercely because she knew he understood his own weaknesses as well as the power of his dreams.

He looked up and smiled at her. Once again she was warmed by amazement that he should have chosen her: the awkward sister, the one with the slightly crooked nose that gave her face a wry, individual look, the one with the tactless tongue and the pungent sense of humor, rather than any of the reliable and more conventional beauties eager for his attention.

This chance to go to Cottisham was the greatest Christmas gift they could have been given. It was an escape from serving under the Reverend Spindlewood in the bleak area of industrial London to which he had been sent as curate.

How could Clarice reassure him that they expected only patience, and that he should be there to listen and comfort, to assure them of the message of Christmas and peace on earth?

She reached her hand across and touched his arm, tightening her fingers for a moment. "It will be good," she said firmly. "And being in the country will be a delight."

He smiled at