O Night Divine A Holiday Collection of Spirited Christmas Tales - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,224

but she smiled at them. “I will be down in a few minutes.” Edmund and Isabella had already returned to their chamber.

“Shall we ask Cook for some chocolate and see what other treats she has made for us?” he asked, standing up, then scooping each child into his arms. He descended with them to the kitchen, where he placed them each on a stool at the table. Alex, Michael, and Isabella had always been welcome in the kitchens, and Cook always saved a few tasks for them to perform on Christmas morning. As he had suspected she would, she smiled brightly when she saw the children.

“Come to help, have you? It just so happens I still have some baking left to do.”

“Biscuits? Mince pies?” Johnny asked.

“All of them, as it happens.”

It was not long until Edmund, Isabella, and Anna joined them in the kitchen. Despite the aristocratic lineage of the adults, they were swiftly children again, eating as much as they were making. Flour soon dusted cheeks and noses, and fingers were sticky. It was a scene Alex had never thought to experience again.

“I wish Michael could have been here. It is like old times, except for his absence,” Isabella said.

“His wife is lying in,” Alex explained to Anna.

“I suspect we will hear news any day,” Cook answered.

“A joyous occasion,” Edmund remarked. He popped the last bite of a warm biscuit in his mouth and smiled.

“Since we appear to be snowed in, will you do us the honor of reading the Christmas story to us?” Alex asked his brother-in-law.

“I think that is an excellent idea, and Johnny and Lucy may help.”

They removed to the small estate chapel, where those servants not occupied in the kitchen had gathered for a short service. There were only six pews, divided by a central aisle, and an altar at the front with a stained-glass image of a cross shining down on it.

“Look, Mama!” Lucy called Anna over to where Edmund had said she and Johnny could put together the Nativity scene as he read the story.

Isabella and Alex joined her. Then he led the ladies to their seats on the front pew. Edmund began to read of the birth of Christ from the Bible. It was not a formal service, but one Anna would treasure. She watched the two children place each object with care, Lucy placing the baby Jesus in the manger.

Edmund led them in the hymn, “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night,” then “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” before leading them in a prayer. As they returned to the house, they sang some of the more spirited carols, including “Joy to the World” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which the children were able to join in with glee.

The house smelled divine with the promise of a feast yet to come. “Is it time for the goose, Papa?” Johnny asked Edmund.

“No, that is for this evening.”

“Perhaps we may play in the snow, if the children do not mind the cold?” Alex suggested.

“Yes, please!” Lucy and Johnny both exclaimed.

“Then hurry along and bundle into your coats and hats. I will send for the sleigh we keep for use in this weather, to take us to the best hill on the estate for my purpose. I have a surprise for you both.”

Alex watched as Johnny knelt down and Lucy climbed on to his back. He felt Anna tense next to him, but he touched her arm to offer reassurance. “I used to carry Michael and Isabella that way,” he whispered.

She nodded warily as she watched, but Johnny was being careful. “Johnny is good for her, I must admit. He treats her far more normally than the village children do.”

“Will you join us? Whilst in Canada I came across a pastime the children will much enjoy. In some parts of the country, the snow lies for most of the year, leading to the need to slide down hills in it for sport.”

“I will come, but merely to watch. Excuse me while I fetch the pelisse Isabella so kindly lent me yesterday. This gown is pretty but hardly sufficient against the day’s cold.”

Alex watched Anna climb the stairs, musing over the change within himself in a couple of days. He had returned with no expectation of finding Anna free, and somehow everything had changed.

A few moments later, Isabella bustled back into the small saloon as though in a hurry.

“Has Anna gone?” she asked.

“She went to put on a warmer coat.”

“Good, then we have time,”