The Christmas Knot Read Online Free Page A

set down his spoon, wiped his mouth, and sat back in his chair, long legs stretched before him. “The original Ballister built the keep here in the thirteenth century, and a small manor was built next to it a couple of centuries later. That manor was torn down and replaced by this one during the reign of James I. Sir Joshua Ballister brought Louisa, his bride, home to the newly-finished house. Louisa’s dowry was a ruby necklace of surpassing splendor, or so they say.” He picked up his spoon again and twirled it in his fingers, his eyes now on the table.
    “By all accounts, theirs was an unhappy marriage. A few years after the birth of a son, Louisa took a lover and planned to elope with him, but her husband caught her as she tried to escape. When he found that the necklace was missing, he became irate—evidently it mattered far more than her infidelity.” His voice had grown harsh. He cleared his throat. “In any event, she denied all knowledge of the missing necklace—one assumes she still hoped to flee—and her husband confined her in the keep in chains, with nothing to do but pace back and forth, gazing out the window in the hope that her lover would come and save her.”
    “But the lover never came, because her husband murdered him,” Lizzie said.
    “Or so it is said,” her father said with a shrug.
    “And threw his body to the crows,” John added.
    “Little ghoul,” Richard said. “The necklace was never found, nor were the lover’s bones, and the lady still walks, waiting for him to return.”
    “What a maudlin story,” Edwina said. “It seems more likely that the lover absconded with the necklace, leaving Lady Ballister to suffer a horrid fate.”
    “Oh, no!” Lizzie cried. “He would never do such a thing. He loved her with eternal devotion.”
    “That’s a lovely sentiment, Lizzie, but the fact remains that many a man swears devotion when he doesn’t really mean it,” Edwina said.
    “Or woman,” Richard said, with a glance at Edwina that didn’t match his bland tone of voice.
    “I beg your pardon?” Edwina strove to sound indifferent and polite.
    “Anyone, male or female, may be more devoted to the god of mammon than to love.”
    That sounded like an accusation, but for heaven’s sake, why? He was the one who’d wanted to marry her solely for her money, whilst she’d been fool enough to believe he loved her.
    Lizzie frowned. “What is mammon?”
    “Riches,” John said. “From the Greek, I think. I’ll ask the vicar at my next lesson.”
    “Maybe that’s so, but Lady Ballister’s lover wasn’t like that.” Lizzie pouted.
    “No, I shouldn’t have suggested it,” Edwina said. “It rather ruins the story, doesn’t it? Far better to think of the lady and her lover reunited in the end.”
    “Yes, but they won’t be as long as her ghost still walks,” Lizzie said.
    There was a strange and pregnant silence, as if something hung in the air, waiting to be said. The little family seemed to close ranks, excluding Edwina. “Mrs. Cropper, may we have the apple tart now?” Richard said. “With tea, please, as I expect Mrs. White would enjoy that.”
    “Thank you, I should like that very much,” Edwina said, distracted from wondering what had been left unsaid by this unexpected consideration on Richard’s part. She missed drinking tea in the evenings. Her relatives were stingy with the good tea, only serving it to visitors, and her employers had made her eat with the children and spend her evenings alone—too lowly to sit with the family but not lowly enough to be accepted by the servants.
    She was so tired of being alone, tired of having no one to talk to, no one who cared a jot for her. During her marriage, she’d had female friends, but not one of them had lifted a finger to help her once she was widowed and destitute.
    Over the apple tart, Richard had the twins explain where they were in their various lessons. It seemed they had struggled on as best they could