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“He was the most amazing Scrooge.” Esther tried her best, for the third time in as many days, to explain Dickens’ voice and his mannerisms and expressions to Lady Parker. “It was as if—he had written the character himself!”
“Indeed,” Lady Parker said, a twinkle in her eye that had not been there a few days ago. Though she had not attended the play with them, she seemed to enjoy Esther’s excited retelling of it very much. John’s imitations of Marley and The Ghost of Christmas Past had seemed to please her immensely too, as did the long, literary discussions and debates the three of them had enjoyed.
Esther laughed, then threw up her hands in defeat. “Dickens was simply too marvelous for words. Now that I realize he reads at Liverpool, next year you shall have to come and see him yourself.”
“Next year . . .” Lady Parker’s voice trailed off. “Is a long time away. And I am a tired old woman. I’ll leave you now. These bones must be off to bed.”
At her words, the two manservants waiting by the door sprang into motion, moving swiftly toward her and lifting either side of her chair.
“Goodnight,” Esther called.
“Thank you for a lovely Christmas,” John added.
“It isn’t over yet,” Lady Parker said, tilting her head and looking toward the ceiling near the doorway as they carted her off. Esther followed her gaze to the sprig of mistletoe hung there. When she glanced at John, in the chair beside her, she saw that his eyes were upon it too.
“I wonder where that came from,” he said, standing and tugging Esther up beside him.
“I am certain I don’t know,” she said. “Lady Parker is too practical for such nonsense and superstition.”
“Nonsense?” He pulled back, looking at Esther askance. “You do realize that the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe dates back to ancient Greece.”
She hadn’t known. It wasn’t the sort of thing that had ever come up in the many books she and Lady Parker had read over the years.
“During the Roman era, enemies reconciled beneath mistletoe,” John continued.
“Did they?” she murmured as he took her hand and gently pulled her toward the doorway. “Pity we aren’t Greek or Roman—or enemies.”
“But we have had some difficulties—a few days ago. Perhaps a reconciliation is in order.”
They had not spoken of those difficulties since the night of the play, of the awful shock of their unknown connection in Lady Parker or of the mistrust that had so quickly filled Esther’s mind, nearly shutting out the past four months of John’s kindnesses to her. She had not apologized for doubting him, for allowing fear to overtake her courage and what her heart knew to be true.
She turned to him now and allowed him to take both of her hands in his.
“I am sorry, John,” she said, apologizing to him this time. “I was wrong to mistrust you, when you had been nothing but good to me.”
He frowned. “You do not need to be sorry. Indeed, I hope I never give you cause to feel sorry about anything ever again.”
“Ever is quite ambitious,” Esther said, enjoying the way his fingers caressed the back of her hands.
“Yet not long enough, either,” he complained. “But I am hopeful that in the future you will agree to not feeling sorry for the rest of your life, at least.” His eyes, filled with hopeful trepidation, sought hers. His voice lowered, and he released her hands but pulled her close, his arms circling her waist. “What do you think you might say to that?”
Esther looked up to his beautiful face and that perfect wave atop his head. Her hands rested against the front of his shirt, and though they trembled slightly, she felt no fear, only a heart overflowing with love.
“I suppose I shall say—that I surrender.” And she did, to a very, exceptionally good man.
Michele Paige Holmes spent her childhood and youth in Arizona and Northern California, often curled up with a good book instead of out enjoying the sunshine. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education and found it an excellent major in which to indulge her love of children's literature.
She is the author of fifteen published romance novels, including the HOLIDAY HARBOR contemporary series, HEARTHFIRE HISTORICALS, and the FOREVER AFTER series. She is also the author of four novellas in the TIMELESS ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY and TIMELESS VICTORIAN COLLECTIONS.
You can find Michele on the web: MichelePaigeHolmes.com
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Twitter: @MichelePHolmes