A Partridge in a Pear Tree (6 page)

Allison was intrigued. In the village near their cottage back home, there was always a little Christmas party at the vicarage, with a claret cup and the vicar's sister playing carols on the pianoforte. It was the height of the social season there. But bonfires and dancing sounded like much more fun.

And there was always the chance William might ask her to dance. That would indeed be a memory to cherish once she was back home again.

As if to echo her thoughts, Rose said, “Mr. Bradford, your young gentleman, looks as if he'd be a fine one in a jig.”

“He isn't
my
young man,” Allison protested, even though her heart felt a sudden lightness at hearing such words.

“
Isn't he?” Rose peered at her closely in the mirror. “Well, I am sure he very soon will be. Especially if you come to this dance with him.”

“
Can children come to the dance, too?” Allison asked, already having visions to twirling around bonfires in William's arms. “I don't think my sisters should be left alone here. There is no telling what trouble they could get into.”

“
Of course! Everyone comes to the Christmas dance.”

“
Then I will see you all there...”

**

Four dances later, out of breath and exhilarated, Allison fell against William's shoulder, laughing helplessly, as the musicians struck up yet another lively tune.

“
Shall we dance again?” William asked, holding her close against him.

“
I don't think I could. Not just yet. I can scarcely catch my breath.”

“
Then let's go get something to drink, and sit down for a while.”

“
That sounds lovely.”

They found glasses of punch from the long tables set up in the shadow of the public house walls, and settled on a bench in a dimly lit nook from which to watch the festivities.

Allison smiled as she saw the twins playing blindman's buff with the other young people, their cheeks pink with merriment in the brilliant light of the bonfires. The music sang out on the cold wind. It was a truly splendid evening, one she would never forget.

If only it could go on and on...

“Allison,” William said, his suddenly serious tone at odd contrast with the merry holiday scene before them.

She turned to look up at him in concern. “William? What is it? Is something amiss?”

“No, of course not. It's just—I must talk to you about something. I was going to wait, to be patient, but seeing you here tonight—I have to say it.”

An odd mix of dread and excitement caused Allison's hand to shake. What could possibly be making William, usually so calm and teasingly merry, be so pale and serious?

It had to be something either horrible or wonderful.

She carefully placed her glass on the ground before she could spill the punch, and steeled herself to face him. “Yes, William?”

“Allison. I love you,” he said quickly, then looked as if he had swallowed a frog.

She felt her jaw drop as she stared at him like a lackwit. Were her ears deceiving her? Did he just say... “You love me?”

He nodded. “I do. I think I fell in love with you when we first met four years ago, but I was too young and foolish to realize it. But now I know, I love you, Allison Gordon. I love your fiery red hair, and your sweet smile, and your cleverness and kind heart, and—everything.” His smiled ruefully. “i am saying this very badly, aren't I? I'm being terribly clumsy.”

“
Oh, William,” she said, a silly grin tugging at her lips. “I love you, too.”

His eyes widened, and he grinned a very silly grin of his own. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. “You do?”

“I do. Truly.”

He swooped down and kissed her, the softest, sweetest, dearest kiss ever. Allison grasped the lapels of his greatcoat in her gloved hands and leaned into him, absorbing his strength and his warmth into herself.

When at last they parted, she leaned her cheek against his shoulder and sighed happily.

“
I have little money,” he said. “Not much to offer you. But I will work hard to make us a fine life.”

“
I have little money, either,” she answered blithely, still floating on love's pink cloud, where such mundane considerations as incomes and houses had no place. Not yet. That would come all too soon. “And you have one very valuable thing indeed to offer me.”

“
And what is that?”

She looked up at him, and kissed his handsome cheek. “Yourself, of course. That is all I want.”

He smiled, but his eyes still looked shadowed. Concerned. “I want to marry you, Allison, more than I have ever wanted anything. But I don't want you to regret being my wife.”

“
I never could. I know it won't be easy, but we can all live at my family's cottage if we must. There is room for you and Gertrude, and anyone else who might come along.” She rested her cheek on his shoulder, letting the bliss of the moment soak into her. “It will be fine. You'll see, my love. We have each other now.”

“
Yes,” he said, pressing a kiss to her hair. “We have each other.”

His arms tightened around her, and he was all she knew.

They didn't even see the dark-cloaked woman who stood hidden behind the edge of the wall. But Lady Kirkwood's faithful maid Rose saw, and heard, them. With a little smile, she slipped away and headed back down the lane to Kirkwood Manor to tell her employer all she had learned.

Chapter Ten

Christmas Day

“Allie! Allie, wake up!”

“
It's Christmas, slugabed! You are sleeping the whole day away.”

Allison groaned, and opened her eyes to find the much too energetic twins climbing onto her bed. They had opened the window draperies, and pale yellow sunlight streamed into the room.

She pulled the bedclothes back over her head. It felt as if she had only just fallen asleep. “What time is it?”

“
Nearly nine o'clock. And we are meant to go to church with Lady Kirkwood, remember?” Jane said, with a little bounce on the feather mattress.

“
Even newly engaged ladies can't stay abed all day,” Kitty added, pulling the blankets down.

Allison and William had told the girls, in strictest confidence, about their intention to wed, and they had been able to speak of nothing else but their plans to be bridesmaids all the way home from the dance.

Allison laughed, and sat up against the pillows. “You are quite right, my dears. Christmas isn't a day for lazing about.”

“
We brought you some tea,” Jane said, producing a half-full cup from behind her back.

“
And gifts!” Kitty in turn brought out two brightly wrapped packages.

Allison clapped her hands in delight. “Gifts
and
tea! You are the best sisters ever. She kissed their cheeks, almost upsetting the tea in the process. “And I think that if you look in the wardrobe, you will see something there with your names on it.”

With shouts of glee, the twins ran to the wardrobe, tripping over their nightgown hems, to pull out two parcels from under the gowns and pelisse.

Soon the whole bed was covered with bright ribbons. Kitty and Jane put on their new satin slippers and silk stockings, bought from the egg and butter money Allison had so carefully saved over the months, and paraded around the room. Allison wrapped the clumsily knit, but lovingly made, red shawl around her neck and pulled on the matching mittens.

“
I will be the warmest person in church today,” she said. “But I can't believe you made these yourselves, and I didn't even know!”

Kitty came and snuggled at her side under the blankets. “We've worked on them since the summer.”

Jane laid down on her other side. “We made a blue shawl for Mama, but we'll have to give it to her when we get home next week, since we forgot to leave it. Do you think she'll like it?”

“
I think she will love it.”

There was a knock at the door, and the twins tumbled off the bed to go answer it.

Rose stood there, two large boxes in her arms. “Good morning, Miss Gordon. And Miss Kitty, and Miss Jane. Happy Christmas to you all!”

“
Happy Christmas, Rose!” the twins chorused, eying the boxes in curiosity.

“
These are for you, from Lady Kirkwood. And she also sends a message for you, Miss Gordon.” Rose handed the boxes over to the eager girls. “She wants to know if you and Mr. Bradford will join her in the library directly after church.”

She smiled, bobbed a curtsy, and left, shutting the door softly behind her.

Allison was so puzzled by this strange invitation that she didn't notice her sisters tearing open the boxes until she heard their shrieks of pleasure.

“
Oh, Allie! Just look,” Jane cried. “Ballgowns.”

“
And they match our new slippers perfectly,” Kitty said, holding up a gown of green velvet trimmed with cream-colored ribbons. It made her look like a young lady, no longer a child, and Allison had to smile.

Jane clutched a matching gown, made of rose-pink. “It's the loveliest gown I've ever seen.”

“Come and see yours, Allie.”

Allison suddenly felt quite as excited as they were. She'd never owned a real ballgown, just old gowns of her mother's remade. She scrambled out of bed to lift the lid on her own box—and gasped when she saw what was folded there.

It was of sapphire-blue silk, trimmed with rich frills of white lace and soft white satin ribbons at the low neckline and the hem. It was sumptuously cut and shimmered like a starry winter's night. Even the trepidation of meeting Lady Kirkwood in the library was nothing against its beauty.

Allison spread the glory of it over her lap, and stroked the delicate cloth with a gentle hand. She could hardly wait until William saw her in it.

**

“
So we are finally alone,” William said, cornering Allison for a quick kiss outside the library door.

Allison laughed, kissing him back. “Was sharing a hymnal in church not enough for you?” she teased.

“Not one little bit.” He kissed her again, swiftly and tenderly, holding her close. “What do you suppose Lady Kirkwood wants to talk to us about?”

“
Maybe she wants to tell us we won her scavenger hunt? Or maybe she wants to know what your intentions are toward me?” Allison's voice was light, but deep inside she was a bit worried herself. She'd had very little private conversation with Lady Kirkwood, and to now be summoned to see her in the library seemed a bit strange. Unless it was about the end of the game. “But we'll never know if we don't go in.”

“
Oh, very well.” William gave a theatrical sigh and kissed her again. “If we must, we must. But I would much rather stay alone out here with you.” He offered her his arm, and led her into the waiting library.

Lady Kirkwood was seated by the fire in another thronelike chair, but she wasn't alone. In the chair next to hers sat a slim figure, still bundled in a traveling cloak and bonnet, sipping a cup of tea and laughing at something Lady Kirkwood said.

“Mama!” Allison cried. She ran across the room, forgetting her dignity entirely, to kneel down beside the chair and throw herself into her mother's open arms. “Oh, Mama. How we have missed you.”

“
And I have missed my dearest girls,” Josephine Gordon said, pressing her cool cheek against Allison's. “Lady Kirkwood very kindly sent her largest carriage, and even her own physician, to fetch me, so we could be together today.”

Allison looked over at Lady Kirkwood, who was beaming at them. “Thank you so much, my lady,” she whispered, afraid she might burst into tears at the happiness of it all. William, the girls,
and
her mother—on Christmas! “You have been kindness itself.”

“
Oh, my dear,” Lady Kirkwood said, “don't you think you could start calling me Aunt Harriet now?” Then she turned a stern glance on William. “Now, Mr. Bradford. Isn't there something you would like to ask Mrs. Gordon about her daughter?”

**

Kirkwood Manor had never looked grander. Its windows blazed with light to greet the carriages that streamed along the snowy drive to the open front doors. The ballroom, closed up for so many years, gleamed now, festive in its trappings of greenery and red and gold bows. An orchestra, quickly hired from the village party, struck up a lively tune for the bejeweled dancers.

It seemed that everyone in the county had come there to celebrate Christmas.

Lady Kirkwood surveyed it all from her chair, set high on a dais by the fire. It had been a most delightful holiday, one her dear husband would have enjoyed. And soon it would get even better.

She smiled to see Sir Reginald and his family huddled together near the doorway, watching the merrymakers with wary faces. Letitia's feathered headdress bobbed as she whispered fiercely in her husband's ear.

Lady Kirkwood turned to watch as Allison and William skipped down the line of dancers, laughing and twirling, arm in arm. How they reminded her of herself and her husband, once upon a time! How young they looked, how happy and in love. How many Christmases stretched ahead of them.

“
Lady Kirkwood,” a quiet little voice said. She looked down to see Gertrude Bradford standing on the steps of the dais, a plate of Christmas cakes in her hands. “I thought you might be hungry, up here all by yourself.”

“
How very thoughtful of you, my dear,” Lady Kirkwood said with a smile, marveling at the change only a few days had wrought in the girl. When Gertrude arrived, she had been a pale, sad little thing, so silent. Now she glowed in her holly-green gown, her cheeks pink. “Why don't you sit here and help me eat them? And perhaps you could help me make a small announcement...”

**

“I want to thank all of you for coming to Kirkwood Manor tonight,” Lady Kirkwood announced. “As all of you know, this is the first time I have entertained since my dear husband passed away, so this is a very special night for me indeed. And, as most of you also know, my houseguests have performed a great task for me in the last few days. Some of you may even have assisted them.”

A ripple of laughter sounded across the ballroom, from Bertie and Susan. Mr. Bradford, Mr. Johnstone and his new fiancee, and Farmer Martin, who had sold his chickens to Sir Reginald at a healthy profit.

Allison stood there, her hand tucked in William's, her mother and sisters standing beside her. This was the moment they had worked for, scoured the countryside for. And somehow it didn't concern her one whit. No matter what Lady Kirkwood decided, who she made her heir, Allison didn't care.

She had everything she had ever wanted.

She only hoped that, if Lady Kirkwood chose Sir Reginald and his family, they would take care of her. Allison had grown very fond of the lady.

“And now,” Lady Kirkwood continued, “I have a few very important announcements to make. First of all, I had my attorney call on me today, and he left me with this.” She held out her beringed hand, and Gertrude stepped forward to hand her a piece of parchment. “It's a copy of my new will, in which I leave my personal fortune to Mr. William Bradford and his future bride, Miss Allison Gordon, for all their hard work.”

A murmur of excitement rose from the assembly, as it was well known that Lady Kirkwood's fortune was vast indeed.

“Oh, I say...” Sir Reginald began angrily, only to subside at a sharp glance from Lady Kirkwood. His face went purple beneath a hail of fierce whispers from his wife.

“
Of course, Sir Reginald Kirkwood will inherit this house when I am gone, along with a small annuity to run it,” Lady Kirkwood went on, with a gracious nod to him. “And I am very happy to say that the absent owner of the neighboring estate, Swan Court, has agreed to sell it to me, which I present as a wedding gift to Mr. Bradford. I am looking forward to having them as my neighbors for many years to come.” She turned to William and Allison with a radiant smile “My best wishes to you both, and thank you for all the amusement you have given me in these last few days. My dear husband would have loved it.”

Applause broke out in the ballroom, and the musicians launched into a lively rendition of
The Twelve Days of Christmas
.

Allison looked around at everyone, at her elated mother and her laughing sisters, and felt utterly stunned. How very much had changed in the last few minutes. Her entire world was different.

Her head was spinning with it all.

Then she felt William's arm come around her shoulders, and he pressed a warm kiss to her cheek. She looked up at him, and found his dear smile shining down on her. Her best Christmas gift ever. Suddenly the world steadied, and she knew she would never feel lost again.

“Do you want to cry off out betrothal, now that you are an heiress?” he said.

Allison laughed. “Never! Never, ever. Do you want to cry off, now you are a great heir?”

“And miss out on a life at Swan Court with you, Gertrude, the twins, and Lady Kirkwood?” He caught her around the waist, and twirled her about, lifting her off her feet in the very midst of the crowded, merry ballroom. “Never, ever!”