Page 101 of The Christmas Invitation
‘Yes, but not very, so I got Gidney to put a tot of brandy in yours.’
‘I don’t like brandy!’
‘It’s for the shock, and you won’t taste anything much except spices and lemon.’
River, holding his drink, smiled at us and then wandered off to talk to someone. He’d removed his robes and a layer or two of padding, but not the gilded mistletoe crown. It did sort of go with the black tunic bordered with gold runes that was now revealed in all its glory.
As I drank the toddy, warmth began stealing down inside me, thawing out the frozen knot of cold and shock. Pansy wriggled and I put her down, but she stayed next to me, looking up with dark, trusting eyes.
Everyone was happily chattering, eating cake and drinking – a small community, who all knew each other – andI felt strangely outside it all, as if I was looking in from a window.
Up on the hill it had been another world entirely, which probably accounted for my imagination running riot. Lex must have been right.
Mark, looking almost genial, now that hospitality had been forced upon him, finally spotted me and made his way over.
‘Meg, there you are!’ he said eagerly. ‘I was looking out for you and—’
His voice stopped as he took in my state, before asking in concern, ‘Have you had an accident, Meg? You look as if there’s a bruise on your cheek and—’
‘I think it’s probably mud, rather than a bruise,’ I said, fingering my face cautiously. ‘I did have a bit of a fall up on the hill, but I’m fine.’
‘Meg nearly fell off the ledge after the ceremony and thought someone pushed her,’ Lex said, and I glared at him.
‘I don’treally. It was just that the wind caught me and nearly sent me off.’
Mark gazed blankly at me. ‘Why would anyone want to push you off?’
I flushed, feeling foolish. ‘They wouldn’t – don’t take any notice of Lex! I shouldn’t have gone so near the edge anyway, and I was lucky Lex spotted me and pulled me up.’
‘Weren’t you wearing gloves?’ asked Mark, noticing my poor, punctured hands.
‘I took them off to find a tissue. The wind was making my eyes water.’
‘It’s a steep drop from there, so you were lucky,’ he said, looking so concerned that I was touched.
I drained the glass beaker and suddenly felt a lot better.
‘Here, you might as well have my toddy, too,’ Lex said, exchanging my empty beaker for his untouched full one. ‘I’ll get another.’
Mark put an arm around my shoulders – in a cousinly, rather than an amorous way, I hoped – and said anxiously, ‘Meg, you must come and let me put some antiseptic on your hands. That scratch on your face needs cleaning, too.’
‘Oh, I’m all right,’ I said, smiling up at him and feeling warmed by his concern. ‘I expect we’ll be going back to the Red House soon and I can do it then.’
‘I’d run you back now, except that as the host—’
‘I can run Meg back any time she wants,’ Lex interrupted shortly.
I was just about to disclaim any wish to leave the Gathering before the others, when a sweet little voice at my elbow said, ‘Lex, there you are!AndMark, darling – I was looking for you.’
A small woman of about thirty, with big brown eyes and feathery chestnut curls, stood fluttering her long eyelashes at both men, as if semaphoring a message.
Whatever it was, it didn’t get through, because Lex just nodded at her casually and Mark’s greeting was far from enthusiastic.
‘Hi, Flora.’
So this was Teddy’s former nanny!
Ignoring me, she was turning her full focus on Mark, who now removed his arm from my shoulders and said, slightly sheepishly, ‘I didn’t realize you were home, Flora.’
