It was warm in Mr Craven’s study and Mary and Colin sat with their feet by the fire and cups of hot chocolate in their hands, which Cook had made them as a special treat. It was two days after Mr Craven had found them, and today was Christmas Eve. They had slept most of yesterday, and today they were both comfortably reading: Colin his beloved Treasure Island and Mary her book of botany. Behind them the door opened softly, and Martha came in with a bucket of coal.
‘Martha! You’re back!’ Mary jumped up and hugged her.
‘You shouldn’t be doing that, Miss! I’ve been lugging the coal buckets around and I’m covered in smudges,’ she said, and indeed, her apron had a streak of black down the front. But she returned Mary’s hug all the same. ‘Your uncle gave me my place back. He came past our cottage after he drove Miss Crichton and Miss Prosser to the station and asked me to come back.’
‘He took them to the station himself to make sure that they went. He didn’t want them under his roof for one minute more than necessary,’ Colin told Martha.
‘He dismissed them both without references. I heard Miss Prosser pleading that they had nowhere else to go, and I almost felt sorry for her,’ said Mary. ‘But Uncle Archibald said that they had showed us no pity, and therefore they deserved none themselves.’
‘I saw them through the windows of the carriage, and a more dejected pair I never saw. Miss Crichton had a face like stone, and Miss Prosser was crying into her handkerchief.’ Martha tipped coal from her bucket into the brass coal scuttle beside the fire.
‘Good,’ said Colin.
‘Then he stopped off on the way home and brought me back himself, in the carriage, imagine that! Me in a carriage! And he asked so politely after the family and all.’ She wiped her hands on her apron. ‘Eh, I didn’t know what to say, I was that overcome!’
‘I’m glad you’re back,’ said Mary.
‘Though it might not be for long, Miss. Can I tell you a secret? While I was at home I had more time to spend with my friend … I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned him to you. Name of Bob Strong?’
‘Oh yes, you’ve mentioned him!’ Mary grinned.
‘Well, he and I had a chance to be better acquainted, and …’ She blushed, and busied herself with sweeping the fireplace to hide her confusion.
‘And you’re sweethearts!’ Mary finished her sentence.
‘He’s asked me to marry him. I’ll be eighteen next year, and we’ve agreed to wed on my eighteenth birthday. And I’m hoping, Miss, that you might be my bridesmaid?’
‘Oh yes please Martha!’ Mary hugged the maid again. ‘Now don’t you worry about making up the fire. I can do that myself you know.’ Mary put some coal on the fire and watched it blaze up with satisfaction. If one day she had a home of her own, she wanted to be able to do things for herself, and not always rely on other people. She never wanted to feel helpless again.
The door opened and Mr Craven came in. The butler had brought a telegram for him and it needed to be dealt with straight away, though he wouldn’t tell the children what was in it. Perhaps news that Miss Crichton and Miss Prosser were safely in London, never to return.
Martha bobbed a curtsey. ‘Lawks a mercy, I nearly forgot. Mother asks if you might like to come over to the cottage while there’s still snow on the ground. Dickon has built a sledge for our young ‘uns and he wondered if you two might like to have a go. It flies like a bird, swooping down the hills.’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Colin. ‘I don’t like the cold, and I’m not sure that I’m strong enough to –’
‘I think that sounds like an excellent idea,’ said Mr Craven with a twinkling smile. ‘Flying like a bird sounds like just the thing for a winter afternoon. You go sledging, children.’ He turned to Martha. ‘I’ll have Cook put together a basket of Christmas treats for you to take for your family, as you were generous with your food when these two had none. Colin, Mary, when you return, perhaps there will be a surprise for you both.’
Mary’s face fell. She was afraid that the surprise was going to be another new governess.
‘Nothing to worry about!’ her uncle assured them. ‘Now get your outside clothes on and go and try out this sledge. But be back before dark, please. I don’t want to have to come searching for you in the darkness again. Go on, off you go!’
As they made their way down the corridor to pick up their coats, Colin turned to his cousin.
‘I know what the surprise is. It’ll be a Christmas tree.’
‘I’ve never seen one. We didn’t have them in India.’ Mary frowned. She wasn’t sure she wanted a tree inside the house.
‘Mama always used to have the biggest tree and she used to decorate it on Christmas Eve. It’s another kind of winter magic, just you wait and see!’
Liz Taylorson 