Christmas Bliss Read Online Free

off from that congregation. He did not know for how
long he would stay truant, but certainly until the problems of miss Trent and
her brother were resolved.
    No, he did not wake thinking of the passing of new laws or
the revision of old ones. He woke thinking of a pair of blue eyes and full
lips. He woke thinking about the rest of his life and what he was to do with
that time. He woke thinking of his own happiness. That was the biggest
revelation of them all. John Scarborough knew how to make himself happy. Not just
happy, but ecstatically so.
    “You are looking chipper, John,” His mother said.
    He entered the breakfast room barely aware that his feet had
taken him down the stairs and across the house.
    “Good morning, Mother. You look lovely this morning.”
    Margaret raised her eyebrows and held back a grin. “Why
thank you, dear boy. Might a mother ask what has put you in such a state of
smiles and compliments?”
    “I would tell you, but I suspect you already know the answer
and are just trying to tease me.”
    His mother frowned then.
    “I asked you last evening if you disapprove, Mother. My
intentions are quite honorable. I can assure you. You like Emma. You said
yourself that she is a fine girl.”
    “I only worry that Drake Trent will make a hard life for
you, John. He can be a terrible enemy from the rumors about town. I’m not
saying that I believe Emma’s accusations that he would kill the little boy.
Still, there must be some truth behind her fears. She’s not the kind of girl to
make up such a story.”
    “I agree. Emma believes it. I believe it best to err on the
side of caution. I would rather be a fool for overprotecting them than the one
who allowed them to come to harm. I would like to hear more about those rumors
when you have a few minutes today, Mother. But whatever he intends for his
niece and nephew, I shall handle him. Do not fear.”
    “I do not care for the nursery, my lord,” Oliver Trent
announced from several feet inside the breakfast room.
    Neither John nor the countess had noticed the child’s
arrival.
    The countess recovered first. “I’m afraid it has been
unoccupied for quite some time. What did you find wanting, Oliver?”
    His eyes were the same color as his sisters, but his hair
was brown and his little body sturdy. He wrinkled his nose. “There is a very
foul smell and the light is quite bad.”
    “I see.” Margaret held back her grin and John could see she
was working quite hard to appear as serious as the boy. “Would you care to
break your fast here then?”
    Oliver beamed and bowed very elegantly. “I would be
delighted.”
    John and his mother exchanged smiles, but held back any
laughter. The boy spoke as if he were a young man who had been invited to a
ball.
    “Dorsey, please find a suitable bolster for the chair for
Master Trent,” Margaret said.
    The butler also hid a smirk and bowed to the young
gentleman. “I shall return at once, Master Trent.”
    It took only a few moments for Dorsey to return with a large
pillow that he had pilfered from the front parlor. He placed it on the chair
near to her ladyship, then bowed to the young man. Oliver nodded and raised his
arms to the servant, who lifted him easily into the chair.
    “Thank you, Dorsey.” Oliver gave his thanks before John
could get the words out.
    “May I make up a plate for you, Master Oliver?” The butler
asked.
    “Yes, please.”
    “I must say, Oliver, I am impressed by your manners,” John
said.
    The boy widened his blue eyes, his expression serious as he
lowered his voice. “Sissy is very cross if I have bad manners.”
    “I see,” John said. “Impressive none the less.”
    Oliver nodded his agreement and said no more as a plate of
coddled eggs, porridge and meats had been placed before him. He shoveled food
into his mouth. The boy appeared starved. The events of the night before must
have worked up his appetite.
    Since the conversation John had been having with his mother
had now