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

Knotting a strip of linen around a twig of white birch, Nicholas smeared the cloth with sticky pine resin and added it to the other wooden candles he had fashioned. It burst into flame, illuminating the blocks of ice he had hollowed out to hold the display. “They are not the most elegant tapers, and my skills as a sculptor leave something to be desired, but—”
    “They are beautiful,” she whispered. “Simply beautiful.”
    “Come, let us make the last few ones together.”
    Anna sat down on the blanket and took up a remnant of cloth. “How did you ever manage the Yule log?” she asked.
    “With the help of the horses. I rigged a length of the reins as a crude sling.”
    “You. . .” A shower of sparks shot up as she lit her candle from one of his. “You have worked miracles, Nicholas.”
    “Abracadabra!” Making a wry face, he waved a branch at the burning log. “Now if only I could make a Christmas goose appear for a holiday repast.”
    The fluttering in her stomach had nothing to do with hunger. Not for fowl. Or fish, for that matter.
    Lud, she could feast on his smile alone and never feel an emptiness inside her again.
    “I fear it will be the same sorry supper of bread and cheese—save for one small treat.” With a flourish, he produced a tin of tea from his coat pocket. “I found this in my valise. In my haste to take leave of my friends, I forgot to leave behind the special blend of Oolong that William requested from Town.”
    “Any more magic up your sleeve?”
    He made a show of looking up his cuffs. “I’m afraid that’s all for now. I shall just kindle a very ordinary fire for cooking, and use our tin cup for boiling water.”
    As he stacked some branches and struck a flint to tinder, Anna began to rummage in her reticule. “Ha!” she exclaimed a moment later, extracting several mashed pieces of gingerbread. “I, too, have been carrying around some forgotten treasures.”
    A second plunge brought up a handful of honey drops wrapped in brightly colored paper.
    His brows rose. “I have always wondered what ladies carry in those things. Aside from vinaigrette, of course.”
    “A great many useful things, as you can see, replied Anna. “Like. . . a spoon. . . a coil of twine. . . a pair of scissors. . .” She laughed as she added a tiny tin trumpet to the growing pile. “Oh, I had quite forgotten about that.”
    “Good Lord, what else do you have in there?” Nicholas shook his head in admiration. “A regiment of hussars? We could arm them with shovels instead of sabers and be out of here in a trice.”
    Turning the reticule upside down, Anna gave it a shake. “No soldiers,” she announced, as a last jumble of items spilled from its depth. “Would a bear do?” The wooden toy was painted a whimsical blue, with spots of scarlet for the eyes and nose.
    “One of its legs is broken,” he pointed out.
    “Yes.” Anna picked up a bit of engraved silver that had fallen to the ground with the bear. “So is the ring on this watch fob. Still, it is a very pretty design.” She hesitated, then reached for his hand and placed both the bear and the fob in his palm. “It’s a rather hodgepodge assortment of presents, but it’s the spirit that counts. Merry Christmas, Nicholas.”
    His fingers closed around her offerings. “Thank you,” he said softly. The candlelight reflecting off his whiskered jaw seemed to ignite a thousand sparks of fire. “Your gifts, and your spirit, are quite special.”
    Anna suddenly felt hot all over. “They are just. . . flights of fancy.” To hide her burning longing to press her cheek to his, she ducked away and began refilling her reticule. “Surely gentlemen must collect lots of serendipitous things during the course of their travels.”
    Nicholas cocked his head to one side, setting off another flare of fire. “I never really thought about it. Let us see.” Fetching the leather document case from his valise, he emptied it on the blanket. Along with a