The Nutcracker Reimagined: A Collection of Christmas Tales

by Le Veque, Kathryn

  “I don’t expect you to take the papers, Jamison. You already know what they say, since you are the author of the vile words.”

  Penview didn’t reply, but simply stared at the papers in his grandfather’s hand.

  “Would you care to explain why you made such vile threats?”

  Penview stiffened. “I’m sure you know, Grandfather. You’ve explained to me often enough what would happen if the mining bill passed.”

  “Are you blaming me for your actions, Jamison?”

  Penview recoiled as if he’d been slapped.

  “Are you?”

  Penview lowered his gaze. “No, Grandfather. You are not to blame for the letters.”

  “Then why did you write them?”

  “Surely you know, Grandfather.”

  “Yes, Jamison. I know. But I want you to say the words. I want you to admit the reason you did something so despicable.”

  Penview did not speak, and Frank thought perhaps he didn’t intend to.

  “Why!” Lord Derwin demanded.

  “Because of the money the family would lose if the bill passed, my lord.” Penview’s answer spilled out in harsh, angry words. Words that affected his grandfather as if they were blows.

  Lord Derwin’s hands trembled and his face paled even more. “You are that greedy for wealth, Jamison?”

  “Wealth is essential to the lifestyle you enjoy. That we all enjoy. Don’t you understand? If we make the improvements the mining act will require, the money we need to keep up appearances will be noticeably affected. You don’t have the income to match Lord Dunstan. Or even Lord Broughton.”

  Young Penview backed a step away, his agitation mounting. “Bloody hell, Grandfather! Would you see Grandmother in the streets again? Working in the shops again? Would you?”

  Lord Derwin struggled to keep his feet, then turned and made his way across the room. When he reached the window that looked out onto the snow-covered garden, he stood with his hands braced on the window frame for several long moments without moving.

  Frank watched the shaky rise and fall to his shoulders. “You have forced me to take steps I never thought I’d be forced to take,” he said when he turned. “And I take no pleasure in what I’m about to do.”

  “There’s no need to be melodramatic, Grandfather. If it’s an apology you want, you have it. Are you satisfied?”

  Lord Derwin shook his head. “Oh, no, Jamison. I’m not satisfied.”

  The Marquess of Derwin walked to the sidebar and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He took a long swallow, then turned to face his grandson. “If I thought for one second that your apology was sincere, I might be tempted to accept it. But it wasn’t. That was the most disingenuous apology I’ve ever heard. Because you didn’t mean a word of it.”

  “Then allow me to repeat it.”

  “No! You will remain silent while I tell you what will happen.” The Marquess of Derwin took a step closer to his grandson. He braced his shoulders as if ready to do battle, and suddenly seemed several inches taller than before. And more formidable.

  “You sent not one, but two threatening letters to a fellow member of the House of Lords. That is a disgrace. In the second letter you threatened the safety of that member’s daughter. That is unforgivable. It is beneath the dignity of the future Marquess of Derwin. And what is equally unforgivable is the reason you did something so unpardonable. You committed what could be a punishable crime because of greed.”

  Frank focused on Penview’s reaction. His face paled. His gaze fell to the floor. There was a look of remorse in his eyes.

  “I love you, Jamison. I love you as if you were my son instead of my grandson. And I will always love you. Even a crime as severe as this could not stop me from loving you. But I am not proud of you. Not only did you threaten an innocent young lady’s safety, but you put your own welfare above that of every worker in our mines whose lives will be improved because of the implementation of the bill. You, who have always had the best of this world, showed no compassion on those who have the least.”

  Derwin stopped and pressed his hand to his heart. “And I regret that I thought the same. I put my welfare—and yours—above the workers who labor long and hard so that we might live in the lap of luxury.” Derwin’s hard glare rested on his grandson. “That will come to an end this very day.”

  Derwin returned to face his grandson. “As soon as we return to London, I will make arrangements for improvements to begin in our mines. Whether or not the bill passes. And to make sure we have enough money to pay for those improvements, both you and I will cut back on our expenses. Your grandmother has already made plans to conserve within the household. We will all learn to live within our means.”

  Penview’s eyes widened as he stared at his grandfather.

  “You will no doubt think the allowance I provide for you is harsh, but considering the crime you committed, I deem that you escaped far more easily than you would have if Lord Dunstan had pressed charges.”

  Lord Derwin stopped and focused on Tillie’s father. “You may still choose to press charges, my lord. That would be well within your rights.”

  Penview’s shoulders stiffened as he awaited Dunstan’s decision.

  Lord Dunstan hesitated, then shook his head. “I will abide with the punishment you deem appropriate.”

  Penview’s shoulders fell noticeably.

  “Very well. Since my grandson will not have an income of his own until he turns thirty, he relies on my generosity to live. He will find that generosity severely diminished. He will also oversee the improvements we will make to the mines.”

  Penview’s eyes widened. “But I don’t know anything about our mines.”

  “Then you will learn. You will find out how hard the miners who provide for you work each and every day. You will put in long hours alongside them and be grateful for every farthing they provide you.”

  Derwin turned to his grandson. “All that’s left is the sincere apology you will offer Lord Dunstan.”

  This time, Penview straightened his shoulders and faced Lord Dunstan. “My lord,” he said in a heartfelt voice. “Please, forgive me for causing you the pain you suffered when you received my letters. I . . . I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know how I could have been so cruel. That was not how my grandfather raised me. What I did was unacceptable. I owe not only you an apology, but I owe an apology to you, too, Grandfather.”

  Tillie’s father rose from his chair. “Apology accepted, my lord.” Lord Dunstan held out his hand and Penview extended his own, though it trembled.

  “I’m so sorry,” Penview repeated. “I will remove myself from your house immediately.”

  “You will not,” Tillie’s father answered. “You are my guest. I will not have people speculate as to why you arrived yesterday, and left abruptly today.” Tillie’s father went to the sidebar and poured himself and Lord Penview a drink. “Consider this matter settled, Penview. It will never be spoken of again.”

  Dunstan handed Penview a glass and with trembling hands, Penview lifted the glass to his mouth.

  “I know it will not be easy, but please, enjoy yourself tonight. There will be several lovely ladies in attendance, and the orchestra my wife has secured for the ball is really quite excellent.”

  “Thank you, Lord Dunstan. In no way do I deserve your kindness.”

  “Now,” Lord Dunstan said as he opened the door. “It promises to be a very long and eventful evening. I suggest we all adjourn to our rooms to rest for the festivities.”

  “Am I to understand that there is truly a joyous event to be announced tonight?” Lord Broughton asked.

  “There is.”

  “My congratulations, Dunstan. I’m relieved to know that this Christmas season will end on a happy note.”

  Tillie’s father turned to Frank. “It will. It most certainly will.

  Chapter Twelve

  Tillie twirled around the dance floor in Frank’s arms. The orchestra was playing a waltz,
and somehow their feet moved with it in a mystical harmony of their own.

  “Happy?” he asked.

  “Happier than I ever thought it was possible to be.”

  Tillie’s father had announced their engagement a few moments earlier, and they’d been surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers until Frank led her to the dance floor. Now at last she was in his arms.

  Frank turned her toward an alcove where they could be alone.

  “I love you, Tillie,” Frank whispered in her ear when they were hidden away. “You made me a very happy man tonight.”

  “And you made me a very happy woman,” she said, sitting on the cushioned bench inside the alcove.

  Frank sat beside her, then leaned in for a long-awaited kiss. “When I think of how much I dreaded coming to Cherrywood with Lord Beckett, I want to laugh. I had no idea that this journey would change my life.”

  “Every family should have their own miracle-maker,” Tillie sighed. “And we have my Uncle John.”

  “I’ll have you know your Uncle John is no angel, but he certainly has made this Christmas magical.”

  Their embrace was cut short when George and Corrine found them. “I thought I saw you two sneak in here,” George said.

  Frank and Tillie rose and stepped outside the alcove. “Is everyone having a good time?” Tillie asked.

  “From the rising volume of conversation and laughter, I’d say everyone is having a marvelous time,” George said. “How about you, Tillie? Are you having a good time?”

  Tillie lifted her gaze to Frank’s. “Truly magical. I’ve never been happier.”

  “I’d say then that my sister is the only person here who isn’t enjoying herself,” Corrine added.

  Tillie looked around the ballroom until her gaze rested on Felicity. She was sitting on a chair against the wall. Although there was an expression that might have passed for a smile to anyone not looking too closely, it was obvious her smiled was forced and she wasn’t having a good time at all.

  “I think I’ll go over to her,” Tillie said.

  “We’ll come with you,” Corrine said.

  “No, let me talk to her. I’ll see if I can get her to join us. If I can,” Tillie said, “be sure to ask Felicity to dance, George.”

  George nodded, and Tillie walked across the dancefloor to where Felicity sat.

  “I’m not going to ask if you’re having a good time,” Tillie said when she’d taken the chair beside Felicity. “It’s obvious you aren’t enjoying yourself.”

  “Oh, Tillie, truly I am—”

  “No, you’re not,” Tillie interrupted. “And I believe I know why.”

  Felicity lowered her gaze to her lap for a moment, then looked up. “As hurt as I am by Jamison’s treatment of me earlier, and his horrid threats in those awful letters, I can’t bring myself to think he’s irredeemable.”

  Tillie placed her hand over Felicity’s hands. “You have such a generous heart, Felicity. Hopefully, in time, Penview will discover that.

  Felicity gave her a sad smile, then they turned their attention on Lord Beckett who was approaching them with a merry smile on his face.

  “There you are, my dear,” he said holding out his hands to Tillie. “My most sincere congratulations.”

  Tillie rose. Instead of taking her uncle’s hands, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a sincere embrace. “I have you to thank for this wonderful evening, Uncle. If you hadn’t brought the major with you, I would never have met him.” She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “And I would have never found the love of my life.”

  “I brought you a special gift,” Lord Beckett said, “but I seem to have forgotten it in the study.”

  “I can get it,” Tillie said with a smile on her face.

  “No, I couldn’t allow you to fetch your own gift. I will go for it,” he puffed, feigning exhaustion, “after I’ve rested a bit.”

  “I’ll go,” Felicity said rising to her feet. “I’ve been sitting long enough. I don’t want anyone to think I’ve been confined to this corner.”

  “Thank you, my dear. You’ll find it in the study. I placed the gift on the left corner of the mantel.”

  Felicity hurried off and Tillie turned to her Uncle John.

  “She’s fairly heartbroken, you know.”

  “Ah yes. At the moment I would say she is. But that could change.”

  Tillie huffed. “I don’t see how. Penview has behaved so abominably I doubt she’ll recover from the embarrassment.”

  Uncle John gave her a long look, then turned his head to peer across the courtyard to the study window in the east wing. He lifted a finger to direct Tillie’s attention there, just as the glow of a lamp suddenly brightened the window.

  A moment later Felicity was framed in the window as she reached for the gift Uncle John had left on the mantel. But before she took hold of it something startled her and she whirled about.

  A figure rose from a wing-backed chair.

  Penview.

  “Oh no!” Tillie’s hand flew to her mouth.

  “Never fear, dear girl. Just wait and watch. Wait and watch.”

  Felicity’s posture showed her displeasure, and Tillie’s heart went out to the poor girl. But it was Penview who drew her attention. His pompous, egotistical pose was gone, and in its place stood a young man whose head was bowed in shame. He was saying something to Felicity.

  “What do you suppose—”

  “Ah-ah-ah! Wait and watch. Wait and watch.”

  His long finger waved toward the window as he spoke.

  The two figures exchanged words, and a moment later Felicity stepped toward Penview. Not in a challenging way, but in such a way that it was clear she was offering support.

  He shook his head and turned slightly away. His hand swept roughly through his hair.

  Felicity stepped closer. Penview’s shoulders shook as if he spoke with abject emotion, and a moment later Felicity moved close enough to place a hand on his arm.

  He straightened, then turned. Her lips moved, and with each word he seemed to straighten more.

  “They’re reconciling!” Tillie cried. “Uncle John, did you—”

  Tillie turned to embrace her uncle.

  But the bench beside her was empty.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I’m telling you, he’s a matchmaker.”

  Tillie reached for another kernel of popped corn to add to her string. It was quite long now, and took both Frank’s hands to keep the long strand from becoming tangled.

  “And do stop eating the cranberries,” she scolded.

  The pretty chain was nearly long enough now to stretch around the large evergreen tree by the summer house. Christmas wasn’t truly over for Tillie until she’d wrapped every tree in popped corn and cranberries for the birds and squirrels who were brave enough to poke their noses out of their winter nests.

  “I doubt your uncle had any idea we’d fall in love when he demanded I lend your father my diplomacy skills,” he chuckled.

  “Oh no? Well George and Corinne aren’t so sure.”

  Now he laughed outright. “What do George and Corinne have to do with it?”

  “Well, the Broughtons weren’t even going to come! But Uncle John wrote them and somehow persuaded the family to attend, and voila! George met Corinne and you shall never see a happier pair.”

  “Hm. Well, not without looking in the mirror, anyway.”

  He popped a piece of popcorn into her startled lips.

  “Exactly! And then there’s Felicity and Jamison.”

  “Now forgive me, my love, but that’s a stretch.”

  “Not at all! If Uncle John hadn’t sent Felicity to Father’s study to retrieve a gift he’d left there for me she never would have spoken with Jamison. Or seen the shame he felt. Or heard his vow to reclaim his honor and rectify the damage he’d done.”

  “So Uncle John just magically knew what three couples were going to fall madly in love and he arranged it all.”

 
; “Well . . . yes.”

  Frank laughed, a full and hearty sound that warmed Tillie’s heart. He’d come to Cherrywood Manor a strangely silent, reclusive fellow. And in some mystical, magical moment, he’d shed the bonds of his tortured existence and learned to laugh again. And to love. Her Uncle John Beckett had done this for him. And for her.

  Tillie tied off the end of the string and reached her hand out to the man who would soon be her husband.

  “Then how do you explain the nutcrackers?” she whispered.

  He sobered. “Well, it was a lucky coincidence,” Frank stuttered.

  “Coincidence? Coincidence, you say?” She dropped the popcorn and cranberry garland and scooted close enough to take both his hands in hers. “Three nutcrackers. One for me, one for Corinne and one for Felicity. Only three. Not four, not two, but three.”

  He started to interrupt but she placed a finger on his lips.

  “Each with a red heart pinned to its chest. And holding out a golden ring in its right hand.” She dropped her finger. “Explain that, my darling doubter.”

  “Well they . . . I suppose . . . or maybe he . . .”

  “Oh do be quiet,” she crooned.

  And she proceeded to silence him in the best way she knew.

  With a kiss.

  The End

  Over one million pages of Laura Landon books are read each month. Read more by looking for Laura on Amazon, or at www.lauralandon.com.

  Other stories by Laura Landon include THE DEVIL’S GIFT, the CAST IN SCANDAL series of four books CAST IN SHADOWS, CAST IN RUIN, CAST IN ICE and CAST IN SCANDAL, THE DARK DUKE, the RANSOMED JEWELS series RANSOMED JEWELS, DARK RUBY, JADED MOON and DECEPTION IN EMERALDS and many, many more great reads.

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  Author’s Note

  Dear Lovely Readers,

  In researching the tale of The Nutcracker (both the original story written by E. T. A. Hoffmann in 1816, and the ballet, first performed in 1892) for this collection of holiday romances, I got to thinking. I wondered what would happen if Clara (Marie in the original story) and her brother Fritz, who were seven and eight in the 1816 version, respectively, grew to adulthood, and their fancies and games were quashed by the realities of loss, hardship, and responsibility. I modeled my hero after Clara’s brother Fritz, who became Edmund in my story. He is looking after his sister, Clarissa, who is mentally unwell (after all, she talks to her dolls and falls in love with a nutcracker!). I kept the original story’s timeline, but advanced it by twenty-two years so that Edmund and his sister are adults. Edmund is in need of a companion to look after Clarissa, but governess Thea Reynolds, the heroine of this story, has no idea what she’s getting herself into. I also set the story in the Scottish Highlands—romance, secrets, Christmas cheer, family obstacles, and a happily ever after ensue! I hope you enjoy this heartwarming holiday story.