Read Online Christmas By Candlelight: Two Regency Holiday Novellas by Andrea Pickens - Free Book Online

saddle and into his arms. He sensed she did not need words, just the unspoken warmth of a heartfelt hug.
    Ice crackled in the branches overhead. From a nearby stump, a solitary raven flapped up into the sky. Finally, at the sound of a frosty snort from one of the horses, Anna lifted her cheek from his collar with an answering sigh. “You are immensely kind to offer a shoulder to lean on, Lord Killingworth. Though I fear with all my sniffling I’ve left your linen rather wilted.”
    “We both agreed it was better not to be too starchy,” he said. “And I would much rather you call me Nicholas.”
    “ Very well. . . Nicholas.” Blinking away a last tear, she straightened her fur hat. “We cannot stand in one place forever. The horses are growing chilled. We really must move on.”
    Though loath to let her go, Nicholas let her pull away. His gaze moved across the snow-covered pastureland to where the ruins of the abbey were just visible above the crest of a hill. “Would that I could make the journey an easier one for you.”
    Like her, he was speaking of more than mere physical distance.
    “I’m not sure how far I could have come without you,” she murmured as he helped her back onto her horse.
    “Tell me,” he said, once they had gotten under way again. “What are the things you recollect most about Christmas with your family?”
    “Lud, I have a myriad of marvelous memories.” Anna thought for a moment, a wistful smile curling the corners of her mouth. “I recall how Papa would search the woods for the biggest Yule log he could find. How Mama delighted in playing Christmas carols on the pianoforte—from English to Russian, and a whole mix of languages in between.”
    A pause. “How she would have Cook decorate the dining table with cherubic angels carved out of ice, their chubby little arms filled with candles and sugared plums.”
    “It sounds truly wonderful.”
    Looking as though she did not quite trust her voice, Anna nodded.
    He let the conversation trail off into the rhythmic crunch of snow. As the abbey walls came into sharper focus, an idea began to take form in his head. A crazy one to be sure, seeing as they were stranded in the wilds, with barely a crust of bread and bit of cheese between them.
    But miracles could happen, Nicholas reminded himself, if one believed them possible. To go along with the cherished memories of Christmas past, he was determined to make the advent of Christmas this year an evening that Anna would not forget.

Chapter 5
    M agic . Her wish upon a star must have bounced off Antares, gathered momentum as it circled Polaris and finally reached the ear of some powerful wizard or warlock. For nothing short of unearthly enchantment could explain the sight that now greeted her gaze.
    Eyes wide with wonder, Anna looked around the remains of the ancient chapel. Barely half an hour ago it had been a dark, damp space, with wind whistling through the crumbling mortar, dead leaves and mouse droppings that had covered the worn stone floor.
    And now?
    Fatigue and hunger did strange things to the brain, and she was awfully tired and hungry. That, of course, had not stopped her from demanding to help make their temporary shelter habitable. So when Nicholas had asked if she would chip through the ice of a nearby stream while he gathered kindling, she had gladly taken up the old bucket they had found and stumbled off.
    Setting down her load, she pressed an icy mitten to her brow, wondering if she was dreaming. But no, a peek through the wool showed that the vision was still there. In the far corner a blaze of merry flames danced up from a massive log whose rotund girth matched that of a brandy cask. Above it, a garland of evergreen branches festooned the entire length of the weathered wall, its needles perfuming the air with the fragrance of fresh-cut pine.
    Her breath then caught in her throat as she spied a flickering of light set off from the main fire.
    “It’s not quite finished.”