Page 106 of All We Want for Christmas
Luckily Flynn was now holdingherarm. ‘Oh my God. They must know.’
‘Maybe they haven’t opened it yet,’ he said.
‘Then why have they brought it to the ball? Oh, no …’
The Lord of Misrule banged the gong again. ‘Pray silence for His Lordship!’
‘They’re not – oh God, please no – going to open it here. I have to do something.’
‘Hold on. Not now. You can tell them afterwards, but now would be the very worst time.’ He squeezed her hand to prevent her from dashing forward. ‘Trust me.’
‘Ihaveto tell them.’
‘No. It’s too late. They probably won’t notice. Most people are pissed. Henry and Fiona won’t look at it closely. They’re too preoccupied.’ She slipped from his grasp and made her way around the to the side of the room.
A hush descended that seemed even more portentous because of the revelry and noise that had come before it.
‘As you all know, this is the anniversary of an importantevent in the history of Ravendale. Many centuries ago, King Henry, bestowed this treasure on the castle.’
Lara longed for magic powers so she could melt into the flagstones. Instead, she had to watch in horror as Henry removed the chalice from the box.
‘You could say that, throughout this time, our fortunes have depended on this small and rather humble looking piece of glass.’
She wondered if, at any moment, the chalice would spontaneously set itself on fire and start irradiating the people in the room like the Ark inIndiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perhaps that would be preferable to Henry suddenly discovering the chip in front of a hundred people and having a heart attack. Why oh why hadn’t she confessed before? All her reasons for keeping quiet now seemed ridiculous.
‘Maybe that’s true. Some of my ancestors certainly believed it, but, you know, while this chalice is precious – indeed priceless – to our family—’
‘Don’t …’ Flynn warned, with a hand on her arm, having finally made it to her side.
Henry was on a roll. ‘While it is very precious, I know our fortunes will never depend on it.’ He held the chalice high like a tennis player who’d won Wimbledon. Convinced she could see the chip from metres away, Lara was sure it had grown bigger, possibly large enough to shatter in Henry’s hands.
‘Our future depends not on luck … but on you. You people here in this room and the many who have comebefore. The people who work here and volunteer here and love this place as we do. Tonight isn’t about us, or the Penhaligons, or even Ravendale, but a celebration of your hard work and dedication and love for the place.
‘We can never be the owners of Ravendale, we can only ever be custodians, along with you all. And on that note, I am delighted to announce that, over the Christmas break, our wonderful daughter Harriet, and her husband, Julian, have decided that the time is right for them to take over some of the reins. They will be moving to Ravendale this spring and jointly learning the ropes regarding running this property.’ Henry still had the chalice in one hand, holding it by the stem.
Lara wasn’t sure she’d breathed properly for the past half a minute.
Any impact and drama created by Henry’s dramatic declaration that one of his children would be taking over was lost in Lara’s terror of him noticing the damage to the base.
‘I hope you will all give them the same unstinting support you have always shown us. Now, all that remains is me to urge to raise your glasses to the future of Ravendale and to yourselves!’
Clutching the chalice in one hand, Henry accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter and raised his fizz and the chalice high in the air.
Cheers erupted amid cries of ‘hear, hear’ and thunderous applause. Then, as Henry thrust the chalice even higher into the air, grinning like a World Cup-winning captain, several things happened at once.
The chalice slipped, Flynn let go of her hand, his crutch clattered to the flagstones, and he dived forward.
There was a collective gasp, a shriek from Fiona, a cry from Lara, and Flynn lay on the floor, the chalice clutched to his chest.
‘Good God! How did that happen?’ Henry declared.
‘Because you’re tiddly, that’s why!’ Fiona said, rushing to Flynn’s aid.
Lara joined Fiona by Flynn’s side. ‘Are you OK?’
‘You poor man!’ Fiona said, taking the chalice from him and handing it to the page. ‘What about your knee?’
‘I – I think it’s OK,’ Flynn said, although Lara could see he was trying not to grimace in pain.
