“One day we were so hungry that five of us decided to go and steal fruit from a small orchard not knowing that there were large hounds on the compound. My friends got away but I didn’t and as I was fleeing my hand got caught in the fence and the dogs were coming. It was either losing my life or my hand and so I pulled as hard as I could, praying that my hand would get severed from my body and I could flee. I don’t know how it happened but suddenly I was free but bleeding profusely. And because I didn’t want to get into any more trouble, I never told the wardens that I was injured until days later when I fainted from the pain. The wound had festered and was full of pus. I was lucky that my hand was saved,” she touched the scar. “But this was a reminder that stealing is sin and I never did it again.”
“Oh Sammy,” Allan longed to wipe all her tears and pain away. “I’m so sorry that you had such a rough life.”
“But even though things were really tough, the Christmas holidays always brought us much joy. That was when benefactors would show up and some children would go and spend the holidays with different families. Also, people were most generous then and it meant that we didn’t have to go to the streets and beg for that season. People brought us clothes and bedding that had been discarded but to us they were new. Sometimes we even got broken toys. Our lives were so simple but rich, at least during Christmas time. Someone, I think it was one of the gardeners always found us a tree to decorate, at least the few of us who didn’t go and spend Christmas in other people’s homes. Then we would stand or sit around our tree singing Christmas carols and once in a while people would come in just to listen to us. They would give us donations and bring us food packages. The wardens would be so happy because there was plenty to eat and drink and December was the one month of the year when they put their whips away.”
Allan felt too choked up to say a word. Sammy told her story as if it had been a very simple life but he could hear the pain behind the words. He looked at his wife’s bowed head and felt deep compassion and he made a silent vow. That for as long as he lived, whether he and Sammy stayed together, he would always make Christmas time very special for her and their child or children.
“But when I turned seven things changed at the orphanage.”
“How?”
“Our senior warden suddenly took ill and died and another came to take her place. This one was really mean and it always felt to me as if she hated children. It was just a government position for her, nothing else. She would scold the wardens who in turn let out all their frustration on us.” Allan started to get angry but forced himself to stay calm. He wanted to hear the end of the story, every painful bit of it. That terrible past is what had shaped his sweet wife’s present life and it would help him understand her better. “But we had no idea that the worst was to come,” her voice broke on a sob.
“Sammy,” Allan groaned, pulling her into his arms, “You’re breaking my heart. I wish I could ask you to stop but I know that you need to get it all out.”
She raised sorrowful eyes to him, “You wanted to know all about me and my past,” he nodded. “Many of the older children ended up in the workhouses by special arrangement of the senior warden and all their miserly wages were collected by her and her cronies each week. She claimed that she was using the money to feed and clothe the younger children.”
“How about you, did you end up in the workhouse?”
Sammy shook her head, “Children from the age of ten years to seventeen or eighteen were the ones who were recruited and sent to the workhouses. Mrs. Covers was a cook at the orphanage and for some unexplained reason she took a special liking to me. When things began to get out of hand and many children were dying or running away, she resigned and took me away from that place. We were so poor because she no longer had any wages and the orphanage refused to give her a pension. But we were so happy together,” Sammy wiped the tears from her eyes and fell silent. Allan waited, knowing that there was more to come. “We took in washing for the next few years until Mrs. Covers developed very painful joints. When she could no longer work she said we should travel back to Cumberland which is where she was born and that’s how we ended up in your duchy. That was about six months before I came to work as a chambermaid for your mother.”
“I’m so glad that you ended up in my house and as my wife,” he pulled her closer once again and Sammy allowed herself a brief moment of comfort. Then she pulled away.
“Can’t you see, I deluded myself into thinking that this life of luxury and abundance is what was right for me? But I was wrong. This kind of life is too extravagant for me. We waste a lot of food and buy very expensive gifts to exchange with people who have more than enough. When will we ever say that we’ve had enough and stop yearning for material things? What we spend in one evening when we host a ball is enough to keep an orphanage of fifty to one hundred children running for nearly six months,” she shook her head. “Allan, I can’t do it anymore.”
Later that night as Allan lay awake beside his sleeping wife, her story resurfaced in his mind, tearing at his heart. Their stories were as different as night and day, and like she’d once said, their lives were worlds apart.
He’d been born into a comfortable family and even though at the time his parents weren’t as wealthy as he was right now, they had never lacked for anything. Once he took over the estate after turning eighteen, he’d worked so hard and expanded their wealth more than tenfold. So he had no idea what it was like to go to bed hungry without even knowing whether tomorrow would bring better tidings. He had never felt the biting cold tearing at his flesh because his closet and drawers had always been filled with warm clothing.
In contrast, Sammy had lived a terrible life, never knowing who her parents were and being aware that someone had abandoned her at a church doorstep. If Mrs. Covers hadn’t taken her in when she did, Allan didn’t want to imagine what might have happened to her or where she would have ended up. Her story moved him deeply and he determined that he was going to help make a change in some children’s lives.
“Is your orphanage still standing?” He asked her the next day. “I would like us to be among the donors and also maybe sit on the board to make sure that all those children are being well taken care of.”
“No. When I was fifteen the place burnt down and thirty children were killed in the terrible fire.”
“Oh no,” Allan closed his eyes briefly and shuddered. He wished Mrs. Covers had still been alive so he could thank her once again for taking Sammy in. And a terrible thought flashed through his mind that if the woman hadn’t rescued Sammy, she might have ended up either burnt in the fire or else locked up in a workhouse. “Does anyone know what happened? Was an investigation ever carried out to determine the cause of that fire?”
“Mrs. Covers said the whole thing sounded very suspicious and reeked of a massive cover up. But she never expounded on what that meant and I was too horrified to ask any more questions.”
“That was really tragic. What can we do?”
“I already told you about the small orphanage that the Vicar is the patron of. The place is falling to pieces and there are only twenty children left. Even those might not be there for long because the place is a health hazard.”
“What can we do to help?”
“They need new buildings or else good repairs on the old ones. The children have no clothes and food and the church can’t afford to pay the wardens much so they don’t stay for long. It’s a really sad story.”
“Should we go there and see how we can help?”
Sammy shook her head, “My idea is to donate to them anonymously.”
Allan didn’t think he’d heard her right. “What do you mean anonymously? How then will people know that we’re the ones who have given or are rebuilding the orphanage?”
Sammy hoped her husband would understand. “The Lord Jesus said that when giving alms or doing works of charity, the right hand shouldn’t know what the left is doing. If no one knows who has given then they won’t m
ake such a big fuss of publicizing our names for all and sundry to know. Let us give without expecting anything in return, not even a single thank you from men,” her voice softened. “Let’s do things differently from now onward, my love.”
“But then no one will notice what we’ve done,” Allan pouted. “What if people ask why we don’t give to charity even after we’ve made our donations anonymously? What if someone else receives the glory and credit for all we do?”
Sammy chuckled softly, “My darling, as long as our Father in heaven sees our hearts and knows that we’ve given with love and not for show, He’ll bless us and not anyone who steals the credit. That’s all that matters. He who sees in secret will reward us openly, so we never have to worry ourselves about being seen.”
Allan had never once thought of giving alms and doing charitable deeds anonymously and suddenly he felt deeply ashamed at how things had been in the past. He and his peers would give generously but not out of love as Sammy suggested, but to outdo each other and receive high praises from men.
“I feel so ashamed,” he told his wife. In these few days to Christmas he’d been forced to do a lot of soul searching. What was evident was that he didn’t like what was being revealed about his character. “I have been giving generously yes, but also tooting my trumpet for the whole world to see. No wonder that it never gave me that much satisfaction.”
Sammy felt a warm glow within. Finally her husband was seeing the light.
“The Lord’s grace is sufficient for us and He has given us another chance to get it right.”
6
The Greater Happiness
Allan was really scared. In his life he’d faced numerous challenges but none had been as terrifying as the thought of losing his wife.
Christmas Day was just two days away and he had no idea if he had done well in the past few days and whether his wife would want to stay with him. Even though Sammy seemed to smile more these days, she was still distant from him and that disturbed him greatly.
He missed those days gone past when she would seek him out just to be with him. When he would return home after working out on the estate or travelling, Sammy would be waiting for him with a hot cup of tea. As soon as he entered the house, she would run into his arms and hold onto him like she never wanted to let go.
But that hadn’t happened in a while and he was much bothered. Ever since she had declared that she was leaving him, things had changed between them. She no longer waited for him or clung to him when he was leaving. Though they had been spending a lot of time together to work through the test that his mother had given them, she would often steal away and disappear for hours. He knew she was working in her greenhouse tending to her plants and shrubs and he missed her. She would stay there until he went in search of her or sent Ashanti when he came by, to fetch her.
Of course, they joked together from time to time but she seemed a little bit restrained.
“Your grace,” Ashanti found him brooding in front of the fire in his study. “I sense disquiet within your spirit. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Allan sighed deeply, “For so long I believed that my life was perfect, Ashanti. I have vast wealth that many can only dream of having, the Regent is my bosom buddy and I’ve got the most beautiful woman in the world as my wife and duchess. Yet for all my achievements, I’m not as happy as I should be.”
“Your Grace, may I be permitted to speak freely?”
“You may take a seat and speak freely, Ashanti,” but the large man shook his head. Ever since he had become the duke’s valet ten years previously, he’d never sat down in Allan’s presence. The only time they were ever seated at the same time is when they were riding in a carriage. But even then, Ashanti would sit in the front box with the footman and help with the horses, but he usually preferred to stand on the back step of the carriage.
“My lord, it isn’t proper for me to be seated in your presence. But I’ll speak now,” Allan always marvelled that the man who was descended from slaves spoke perfect English and seemed well educated. Yet he worked as a valet, refusing to take up any other position even when Allan tried to find him better prospects. “When my father was still alive, he would tell me the stories that his grandfather had passed down to him. Stories of the abundance of wealth in their village back in West Africa. They all had plenty to eat and the land was rich in gold and spices. But my father said that greed and the obsessive desire for dominance created tyrants and kings and even as we speak now, the Ashanti Kingdom is disintegrating. Why am I telling you all this and what does it have to do with anything?” Allan stared at his valet without saying a word. “Wealth is good and vast wealth is even better but it breeds another kind of discontent. A hungry man will work hard to put food on his table. And when his stomach is satisfied, he will begin to pursue other things in his quest to satisfy his soul. That is when he goes out to seek power so he can dominate those around him. Still unsatisfied he will pursue more until he destroys his own soul and sometimes the body.”
“You’re speaking in parables, Ashanti.”
“When can a man ever say that he has enough wealth and will stop searching for more? Material things are good to have but when a person dies they are all left behind and those who remain will fight over them if no testament is in place. And sometimes people even challenge the testament of the dead. Do you see what I’m trying to say? Nothing lasts forever and no state is permanent. The only thing that will endure to eternity is an established heart.”
“What do you mean by an established heart, Ashanti?”
The man grinned, his teeth sparkling white against his dark skin. “According to my father, my great grandfather used to say that a man’s body can be enslaved but his spirit will always remain free when he finds the truth. My great grandfather found Jesus while still a slave and he died in shackles, but he was one of the happiest men who lived on this earth. Our sojourn on this earth is very brief, seventy to eighty years and by special grace some even make it to one hundred plus years. Whether a man is a slave or a free man here on earth, eternity is what really counts. Looking to the things above and not dwelling on those below. There’s no satisfaction in gaining the whole world but losing eternal life. That’s what I mean by an established heart.” Once Ashanti was done with his discourse he bowed his head respectfully. “If your grace will now excuse me, I need to go and check on the horses.”
Hours later Sammy found her husband seated in the same place in the study, still gazing at the fire. Ashanti’s words had given him enough food for thought.
“My love, it’s nearly dinner time. Ashanti was done checking up on the horses a while ago and he asked me to let you know that your bath water is ready. He’s taken it upstairs to our bedchamber.”
“Sammy,” he looked at her. “You know that I love you so deeply,” she nodded. “I don’t know what will happen on Christmas Day or the decision you’ll make regarding our lives together. But just know this one thing, I have never for one moment regretted taking you as my wife. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a single moment of our life together, both the good and the bad times,” he rose up swiftly, surprised her with a kiss and walked out, leaving her staring after him.
“I know that my darling,” she whispered, a secret smile on her lips.
7
Trust My Love
It was a beautiful morning and as soon as Sammy opened her eyes she felt that this was going to be a very special day. Then she laughed out loud, a happy sound that woke her husband from his disturbed sleep. Allan had tossed and turned for the better part of the night and it was only when dawn had started breaking that he’d fallen asleep.
“Someone is very happy this morning,” he murmured sleepily.
“Oh Allan, thank you so much.”
“What are you thanking me for this early morning?”
“For setting me free. These past few days have been so blissful because I haven’t had a single worry in my mind about pleas
ing anyone, least of all our high society friends. But last night after I had a long talk with Ashanti, he made me realise just what a special man you are.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he looked toward the window. The curtains had been drawn back and he could see the blue sky emerging. No heavy clouds with snow this morning, no wonder his wife was so cheery. Sammy hated too much rain or too much snow. It was going to be a bright Christmas Eve day. Then he turned back to look at his wife, his own face quite red and he felt very shy in her presence. “Whatever are you talking about?”
“Ashanti told me all that you’ve done for him. He is going back home to look for his people and not only that, but you have promised to set him up for life so he will be established in his fatherland.”
“It’s the least that I could do for a man who has served me well these past ten years. He’s been a good and faithful servant and now that he has expressed the desire to see the land of his ancestors, I’ll do all I can to make it possible.”
“He told me the same thing and asked me to request from you a special favour.”
“And what’s that, my Duchess?”
“That even though he and his wife are returning to Africa to settle, he has asked that we would keep his three children here. Ashanti considers Britain the land where his ancestors save for his great grandfather found freedom and he wants his children to get the best education there is in the world. According to him, he had a vision that someday one of his descendants will rule his country back in Africa.”
“That’s not such a difficult thing to promise, however, won’t the children feel abandoned when their parents leave them behind? Komu, Osei and Bolanle are all teenagers, who will take care for them?”
Amazing Love This Christmas: Historical Holiday Romance Page 5