Read Online Christmas Yet to Come by Marian Perera - Free Book Online Page B

to waste it in a quarrel, but at the same time, she could never again talk to another person. She would go on to witness the deaths of dozens more people, but never their lives.
    â€œJustin, I’ve seen some of the worst things people can do to each other—and to themselves,” she said. “I wouldn’t think less of you.”
    He glanced at her, a quick evaluating look, and set his glass down. Leaning forward, he picked up a pine cone that had rolled away from the hearth and turned it over in his hands as if examining it.
    â€œIt’s nothing dramatic.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “My father left me some money when he died, and a friend persuaded me to invest in the High Weald Railway company. He was putting an equal amount of his savings into it, branch lines would be built all the way out to Hawkhurst and we would see a significant return on our investment. Unfortunately, my partner proved himself a great deal less loyal than the counterfeiter’s. Though they were both on a par regarding honesty.”
    â€œHe robbed you.”
    â€œHe embezzled nearly two thousand pounds in funds.” Even recounting that, she thought, he had to be accurate. “If it had been my loss alone, that would have been bad enough, but there were other shareholders, and I’d advised some of them to invest in the company. I couldn’t let them suffer for my poor choice in partners.”
    â€œWhat did you do?” Laura hoped she would meet his former partner one day, because that was one encounter she would look forward to.
    â€œMade up the loss any way I could. Got loans, arranged lines of credit, sold whatever I didn’t need. It took years. I even worked at copying out documents late into the night, which didn’t help my eyes any. But finally it was done, the books balanced—and I sold off the High Weald Railway to the South Eastern Railway.”
    She stared at him. “You didn’t want it any more?”
    â€œI didn’t want to bear that responsibility any longer.” He looked straight at her, as though he finally had nothing to hide. “And my feelings towards it had changed. I’d been proud of the High Weald Railway, but after I’d worked myself half to death to save it, just thinking of it made me tired. I’d discharged my duty to the best of my ability and beyond, and now I only wanted to walk away. Like how you felt, I suppose.”
    She nodded. “So that was why you never indulged yourself over the Christmas season.”
    â€œBecause I couldn’t afford to indulge myself at any other time of the year either. I can now. I have a position at the Bank of England. But it’s difficult to shake a habit of squeezing pennies out of farthings, and I’d be a poor host if I asked people here.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    He spread a hand as if indicating everything around them. “Well, look at the house.”
    Oh. She’d seen far more unpleasant places—with roofs leaking onto bare stone floors, because whoever owned them hadn’t wanted to pay for repairs—but while Justin’s house was comfortable enough, it also had a certain bare, utilitarian quality. She guessed silver plate or even china figurines had been sold off long ago, but that didn’t change his home’s appearance.
    On the other hand, when she looked at the paper flowers glowing red in the firelight, and breathed in the scent of apples, she thought if he could make one room welcoming, given a single evening and hardly any money…
    â€œLike I said, a lavish party would be too much,” she said. “One step at a time. You decorated the parlor and had a guest to visit this Christmas. Maybe next year, you’ll have some crackers and mince pies and friends to share them with.”
    â€œNo.” Justin’s voice was uncompromising, his face hard. “I’ve already decided what I’m going to do. I