Chapter IV
Old Roses and New RancourIn the weeks leading up to Christmas, the cold weather abated. Short days of clear, intense sunshine lit up the surrounding hills, drawing ever more people out into the already crowded streets. Pairs of Sardinian shepherds played their pipes, chestnut vendors hovered round their braziers and country gardeners hawked their plants and shrubs, jostling the throngs of holiday revellers, whilst even the smallest of shops remained open on December Sundays. The palpable air of festivity, so different to the commercialised shopping-mall holidays of John’s youth, inspired him to suggest, which he had not quite dared to do last year, that they give a Christmas Eve réveillon at home. Though Sir Christopher was originally opposed to the idea, claiming that it would
