Page 148 of The Christmas Invitation
I woke very early on Christmas morning with a strange sense of anticipation. I could understand Teddy’s feelings entirely now! It was still dark, so I switched on the bedside light … and immediately spotted that there was something hanging on the handle of my door!
It was a long, knitted sock, to which had been roughly sewn a ribbon loop. It bulged enticingly.
I stared at it … and then I remembered Clara’s insistence last night that she was still so wide awake that she intended working for an hour or two before she went to bed … and Lexsaying earlier that he and Zelda still got Christmas stockings. NowIhad one, too!
I fetched it, got back into bed, then began to delve into it. The contents were loosely wrapped in light green tissue paper and out came Clara’s latest paperback, personally signed to me, a small bottle of Tottie’s mead, a chocolate orange, a set of tiny Mexican worry dolls and a very pretty long silk scarf, marbled in shades of green, that I was sure I’d seen in Preciousss.
In the toe was a tangerine, which I ate, then went across to the bathroom to wash the citrus off my hands.
On the way back there was a thudding of bare feet as Teddy hurtled down the landing, hissing loudly, ‘Meg! Meg!’
‘Shhh!’ I warned him. ‘It’s still very early and I think everyone’s asleep.’
‘I know. I’ve already tried Lex, Mummy and Tottie,’ he said disgustedly. ‘I’m glad you’re not, though, because I want to show you what was in my stocking!’
‘I had one too,’ I told him, getting back into bed.
‘Lex and Mummy always get one. Santa mustn’t have realized you’ve all grown up.’
He made a nest of the eiderdown that had been folded across the end of my bed and emptied out his treasures.
Of course, I already knew what was in there, but I pretended I didn’t. Like me, he’d eaten his tangerine, but also the bag of chocolate coins, which had been reduced to empty foil cases.
‘We’ve both done pretty well, Teddy, haven’t we?’ I said finally, looking at my watch. ‘I think I could decently have a shower and go downstairs, now.’
‘Everyone has to get up soon, because I’m not allowed to open my presents till we’ve had breakfast – and I can’t wait!’
‘I know what you mean,’ I admitted. ‘The stocking was an unexpected surprise, but now I want to see what’s in those other parcels under the tree with my name on them!’
‘I bet Den’s in the kitchen by now,’ he said, sliding off the bed. ‘I’ll go and see. Then I can show him my stocking, too!’
‘Good idea, but after that I’d come back up and get washed and dressed, Teddy—’
But he’d vanished before I’d finished.
I showered and came back to my room to find Pansy waiting inside. And unless she’d learned to open and close doors, somebody must have let her in. She was trying to chew something attached to her collar, but abandoned the attempt in order to greet me with near hysterical pleasure.
‘What’s that on your collar, Pansy?’ I asked, picking her up to look – and found a slightly chewed, though still legible, cardboard tag, which read:
To Meg,
Wishing you a very happy Christmas.
If you accept Pansy as my gift, I’ll know you really have forgiven me.
Lex xx
I stared at it, especially those two kisses at the end.
‘Did Lex put you in my room?’ I asked Pansy, and she wriggled till I put her down and then ran to the door, looking back at me as if inviting me to follow. When I opened it, I was somehow not surprised to find Lex standing on the other side, as if uncertain how his present had been received. I left him in no doubt.
‘Oh, Lex, thank you!’ I said with heartfelt gratitude. ‘You couldn’t have given me anything I wanted more than Pansy – but she was so expensive. You really shouldn’t have!’
‘Sybil gave me a family discount,’ he said with that familiar, sharp smile. ‘So … you’ll accept her and my apologies for the past?’
‘Of course I will. There’s nothing left to forgive. It was all a misunderstanding and we’re friends again now, aren’t we?’
On impulse, I stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, but instead our lips met … and then I was lost again in his arms, which held me close.
