It Happened One Christmas

by Kaitlin O'Riley

  Paulette Hamilton, looking rather pale, was wrapped in a thick blanket and reclining on the large sofa. “Hello, Mr. Roxbury,” she whispered in a nasal tone.

  “You must excuse Paulette,” Lisette explained to him.

  “She’s not feeling well.”

  “Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and I’m not going to spend it alone in my room upstairs, even if I do have a cold,” Paulette said with a sniffle. “How was everything at the shop tonight?”

  “It was very, very busy and I think I hired another errand boy. And I have the most wonderful idea about helping him and his mother, Paulette, but I shall tell you all about him later,” Lisette answered. “Is Juliette upstairs with Colette?”

  “Yes,” Yvette informed her eagerly. “Colette made Mother leave right off.”

  Genevieve Hamilton threw her hands up in the air in a helpless gesture. “Apparently I make my own daughter nervous. Est-ce que tu as déjà entendu parler d’une chose aussi ridicule? Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? Je suis sa mère. I am her mother. Imagine such a thing!”

  Lady Stancliff calmed her. “Don’t worry, Genevieve. You know how difficult having a baby is. Colette doesn’t mean to slight you. I’m surprised she hasn’t thrown Lucien out yet.”

  “I’m surprised Lucien hasn’t thrown Juliette out!” Paulette added with a laugh from her perch on the sofa.

  Quinton smiled at the Hamilton family dynamics, which were not that different from how his own siblings acted when they were all together. He felt right at home.

  Lisette turned to him, her deep green eyes looking at him with love. “I want to go up to her. Will you be all right? Will you wait until I return?”

  “Yes, of course. Go be with your sister.” The impulse to kiss her was so strong that Quinton had to restrain himself. He wanted to hug her to him, to touch her cheek, or even squeeze her hand. After everything they had just shared together earlier that evening, he merely wanted to be close to her. Yet he could do none of those things with her family’s eyes upon them.

  “Thank you.” With a brief smile, Lisette fled from the drawing room. Quinton turned to find a number of curious eyes on him.

  Yvette Hamilton, wearing a festive red and black plaid gown and her long blond hair arranged on her head with red ribbons, walked over to him and Jeffrey. With a great sense of elegance, the sixteen-year-old took them each by the arm and guided them into the room. “Now you two fine gentlemen, come join us and have a seat. We just finished decorating the Christmas tree. Doesn’t it look lovely?”

  The large pine stood before the tall front window, decorated with handmade paper angels, pretty silver and gold Dresdens, small cornucopias filled with sweet candies, and lit with tiny white candles.

  “You did a splendid job decorating it, sweet girl,” Eddington said to her. “It’s even better than last year.”

  Thrilled with his compliment, Yvette smiled and then led Quinton to a comfortable chair near Harrison Fleming and brought Eddington to the card table.

  “Now, Jeffrey, you shall play cards with me, for no one else wants to.” Yvette sat across from him and began to expertly shuffle the deck.

  “How can I turn down such a charming offer?” Eddington answered gallantly, seating himself across from her.

  Quinton wondered how long he should stay at Devon House. He also wondered why no one had questioned his presence there, aside from Mrs. Hamilton’s veiled reference to seeing him again. He supposed they were distracted with excitement of the baby’s arrival, but still . . . He wanted to let them know that he and Lisette were to be married. All that had happened between them that evening was still racing around his mind. Lisette was now his and he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Lisette was his.

  “When shall we exchange presents?” Yvette questioned the room as she fanned her cards in her hands.

  “I suppose we should wait until the baby is born,” Lady Stancliff proposed, while handing a cup of tea to her husband. “It somehow seems wrong for us all to be down here opening gifts, while Colette is upstairs otherwise occupied.”

  Lord Stancliff, a rather frail-looking figure, added in his gruff voice, “We should wait for Colette.”

  “I vote we wait until the baby comes,” Harrison Fleming chimed in from his seat next to Quinton. Still holding his sleeping daughter in his arms, Harrison turned to Quinton and confided, “I’ve learned you have to add your two cents in whenever you can with this family, or you get outvoted.”

  Quinton laughed, realizing he would very soon be a part of this family, too. And that made him exceptionally happy.

  “Fine. I suppose we should wait then,” Yvette grudgingly agreed. However, her blue eyes sparkled at another prospect. “Did you bring a special present for me, Jeffrey?”

  He winked at her. “How could I forget a present for you, Yvette?”

  Quinton watched the exchange between them with amusement, thinking how charming Lisette’s sisters were. He had already grown to like her family and felt very comfortable with them. He suddenly realized what he had to do.

  “Mrs. Hamilton?” Quinton addressed Lisette’s mother.

  “Oui, Monsieur Roxbury?” Genevieve turned to him with questioning eyes.

  “I think there is something you should know.” Quinton rose to his feet. “Something you all should know.”

  All eyes turned to him and the room grew quiet with expectancy. Eddington folded his arms across his chest.

  Quinton cleared his throat, suddenly feeling nervous. “Earlier this evening, I asked Lisette to marry me.”

  The room remained silent.

  “Excuse me,” Paulette finally piped up from the sofa.

  “But aren’t you already engaged to Lady Emmeline Tarleton ?”

  “I was,” Quinton explained a bit sheepishly. “But I ended our engagement a few days ago. I am no longer getting married to Lady Emmeline on January third.”

  There were a few gasps of astonishment.

  “What did Lisette say when you asked her?” Yvette could barely contain her excitement.

  “She said yes.”

  “I knew it!” exclaimed Genevieve in triumph. “J’avais raison dans cette affaire, n’est-ce pas? I was right all along about the two of you, Monsieur Roxbury. C’est tellement romantique! This is wonderful news! Tu me rends la plus heureuse. This makes me happier than you know.”

  “Why did the rest of us not know about this?” Yvette questioned, her brows furrowed in consternation.

  “I knew,” Jeffrey stated, teasing Yvette with a smug expression.

  “So that’s why you all came home so late,” Paulette added with a knowing look. “You were proposing to her?”

  That explained it as well as anything else. Quinton could not risk looking in Eddington’s direction. “Yes. We had quite a lot to discuss, what with my wedding being canceled,” he managed to say.

  “This is wonderful!” Harrison chimed in loudly. “Congratulations, Roxbury!”

  Genevieve Hamilton seemed the happiest of all, clapping her hands gleefully. “C’est si passionnant! I am so pleased!”

  Quinton began to accept congratulations from the others, feeling happier about this quiet betrothal with Lisette than he ever had with his grand engagement with Lady Emmeline.

  At that moment, Lisette and Juliette rushed into the drawing room, their faces aglow and their smiles beaming with joy.

  “Well?” Paulette encouraged, sitting upright in expectation. “What is it?”

  “It’s a boy!” Juliette announced in triumph. “He is big, healthy, and beautiful and Colette is doing just fine!”

  A chorus of happy exclamations and shouts of congratulations sounded in the room, as everyone stood and hugged and shook hands. Lady Stancliff called for champagne to be brought out as laughter and joyous cries filled the air.

  Caught up in the emotional moment, Quinton rushed to Lisette’s side. To his delight, she flung her arms around his neck and he wrapped her in his embrace.


  “I believe we need champagne to toast an engagement as well,” Lady Stancliff declared, pointedly looking in their direction.

  Suddenly aware that everyone was looking at the two of them, Quinton whispered to Lisette, “I told them that I asked you to marry me.”

  “You did?”

  He nodded, as Lisette slowly faced her family, his arms still around her.

  “Yes,” she confirmed the news shyly. “Quinton and I are to be married.”

  “You see? J’avais raison dans cette affaire, n’est-ce pas? I was right in this matter, was I not, Lisette?” Genevieve Hamilton exclaimed in triumph. “Now . . . Now you look happy and in love because he is the man for you! Voilà de bien merveilleuses nouvelles. This is wonderful!”

  “Thank you, Mother.” Lisette smiled. “You were right all along.”

  “When will you be married?” Yvette asked, full of excitement that there was still to be a wedding after all.

  “We haven’t decided yet,” Lisette began slowly.

  “But very soon,” Quinton added with an unabashed grin. He couldn’t marry her soon enough. Waiting any length of time would feel too long.

  “Well, now you must kiss her, Mr. Roxbury!” Yvette declared with mischievous glee.

  Her face turning red, Lisette asked, “Why?”

  “Don’t you see where you are both standing?” she exclaimed with delight. “You’re under the mistletoe!”

  Glancing up, he saw the telltale green leaves and white berries tied with a red ribbon hanging over them. Loving his future sister-in-law for pointing this out, Quinton laughed. “Well, if I must . . .”

  He lowered his head to capture Lisette’s sweet mouth in a gentle kiss. Recalling all that had happened between them earlier that evening, his heart overflowed with love for her. Hardly able to believe everything had worked out so well, he squeezed her hand in his.

  Everyone clapped and they were soon handed crystal glasses full of champagne. Toasts were made to the health of Colette and Lucien’s new baby boy and to Lisette and Quinton’s surprise engagement.

  “Congratulations, Roxbury.” Jeffrey Eddington shook Quinton’s hand, a wide smile on his face. “Now I won’t have to kill you.”

  “Thank you.” Quinton laughed good-naturedly. “I appreciate you looking out for Lisette.”

  “My pleasure. She’s like a sister to me.” Jeffrey’s expression turned serious. “There’s bound to be talk over the cancellation of your wedding, you know. However, if the Duke of Wentworth gives you any trouble, my father will back you publicly. He would do anything to help Lisette. I think he fell a little in love with her the night of the ball.”

  “Who wouldn’t?” Quinton hugged Lisette to him tightly. To Eddington he added, “Thank you.”

  Jeffrey turned to Lisette and asked, “I don’t get the impression you wish to escape this wedding, do I?”

  “No,” Lisette stated emphatically. “Never. But it is now your turn to get married, Jeffrey.”

  “Oh, I am far too young to entertain thoughts of marriage yet,” Jeffrey quipped dryly. “Besides, where would I find someone as special as you?”

  “Can we please, please open presents now ? ” Yvette pleaded with impatience to the room in general. “I’ve been waiting all night.”

  Jeffrey called out, “Can someone please let this sweet girl open her Christmas gifts?”

  “Oui, we can open presents now! Yes! Joyeux Noël! ” Mrs. Hamilton finally acquiesced to her daughter.

  Grabbing Jeffrey’s arm, Yvette dragged him to the Christmas tree with her and began to hand out gifts.

  Laughing, Quinton still held Lisette’s hand in his. “Aren’t you going to open any of your presents?”

  Lisette shook her head, a satisfied smile on her pretty face. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Quinton’s lovely new fiancée looked up at him, her eyes glistening with love. “I don’t want anything else. I have already received the best Christmas present ever. You.”

  He kissed her, knowing that what had happened that Christmas made him happier than he had ever been. He had gained the woman he loved. “Merry Christmas, Lisette.”

  31

  Sing We Joyous, All Together

  Saturday, December 27, 1873

  After Tom came home to Framingham’s garret on Christmas Eve, at first his mother didn’t believe the tale he told. With some meat pies and a pair of practical warm gloves as a gift for her, he described to her what had happened at the lovely little bookshop. He presented her with the elegant Christmas card that had his name written on it neatly. He showed her the copybook where he was to practice his letters. And he gave her the money.

  “They gave you all this? For nothing but the promise of a job after she met you on the street last week?” his mother asked, her usual weary expression replaced by a look of incredulity. “Tom, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”

  “Well, they did.” He couldn’t believe it either at first. Tom had been nervous walking home that night with the money. But luck had been with him for he did not meet up with Tall Jerry and the other lads. The snow and cold weather must have kept them inside.

  “And she wants to teach you to read?”

  “Yes, and Miss Hamilton wants to meet you, too. We’re to go to the shop together after Christmas. She might have a job for you, Mama.”

  “What would I do in a bookstore?” she scoffed. Anna Alcott gave her son a hard look. “Tom, did you steal these things from the shop?”

  “No!” he protested vociferously.

  He would never steal anything from Miss Hamilton. No sir. That lady had been too good to him already, and he would never betray her in that way. And Mr. Roxbury, too. After his promise to his mother, he would never again take anything that didn’t belong to him as long as he lived. He would never let either woman down. And that was a promise he made to himself.

  “Mama, I swear it. If I was going to steal anything, it wouldn’t be a copybook. It would be something much more useful. Miss Hamilton is a very kind lady. Truly. Just come with me and meet her.”

  “I don’t know . . .” His mother hesitated, her eyes on the copybook. Her fingers traced the lines Tom had written to form the letters of his name. Then she glanced at the pretty Christmas card, with the gilt edges and raised letters. A flicker of hope glowed in her gray eyes.

  “You’d like her,” Tom cajoled, giving her his best smile.

  “She’s very nice. And the shop is a grand place. Miss Hamilton would never say mean things to you like Madame La Fleur did.”

  Anna Alcott smiled and shook her head in amazement. “It just seems too good to be true, Tom. But if it is true, I think this might be the best Christmas we’ve ever had.”

  In the end, Anna’s curiosity got the better of her and she did come with Tom to the bookshop two days after Christmas. Bundled up against the cold, mother and son made their way to Hamilton’s Book Shoppe, just off Bond Street.

  It was early and there were no customers at the bookshop yet, but Lisette waited nervously for Tom to arrive. At least she hoped he would arrive. That little boy had found his way into her heart in a surprisingly short amount of time, and she would be very disappointed if he did not appear. Lisette had come up with an idea to help both Tom and his mother, and she hoped they would be receptive to it. She had told her family everything about him and had Colette’s approval to hire him. Paulette was at the shop with her that morning, having recovered enough from her cold to resume her responsibilities, and was looking forward to meeting the boy.

  When the bells over the front door jingled to herald their arrival, Lisette looked up from the counter with a welcoming smile.

  “Good morning, Tom! I’m so glad to see you again.”

  The little boy smiled with relief. “Good morning to you, Miss Hamilton. I’ve come just like you said to. And I brought my mother.”

  Lisette walked around the counter to greet them. “Hello, Mrs. Alcott. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Yo
u have a very special little boy.”

  The woman’s eyes grew wide, as if she didn’t know how to react to such kindness. “Thank you.”

  “And I would like both of you to meet my sister, Miss Paulette Hamilton. She’s the one who is really in charge here at the shop. But I’ve told her all about you, Tom, and how bright you are and how we’d like for you to work here.”

  Tom looked at Paulette, who had stepped forward to meet them. “Another Miss Hamilton?”

  “Yes.” Paulette grinned at the young boy and his mother. “It’s nice to meet you both. Mrs. Alcott, do you read?”

  The woman shook her head sadly. “Not very well, I’m afraid.”

  “Well, we can help you with that,” Lisette declared. “If you both would like, I can arrange for lessons.”

  “Why on earth would you do such a kind thing?” Tom’s mother asked.

  “I’ve lived above a bookshop my entire life, Mrs. Alcott, and it pains me to think of people not being able to enjoy books. I see great promise in your son. And I understand how hard it is to balance the desire for an education with the need for wages. My sisters and I can be of assistance in that area,” Lisette explained. “I’ve offered your son a position here, delivering books and messages and helping us around the shop in general. He will receive a fair wage, but he will be expected to attend reading lessons. Tom told me that he would like this arrangement, but I would like to have your approval for him to accept the position.”

  “Why, why, yes . . .” The woman’s gray eyes welled with tears. “You have no idea how happy that would make me to have my son learn to read and write properly.”

  Tom held his mother’s hand tightly. “See, Mama? I told you she was nice.”

  “He’s a very good boy,” Anna Alcott said. “He won’t cause you any trouble at all. He will work hard.”

  “I’ve already recognized that goodness in him,” Lisette said, handing the woman a handkerchief.

  “Bless you,” she said, dabbing at her teary eyes. “I’m so thankful, I don’t know if I have enough words.”