Chapter 15December 25th
It was dinner time when we reached Alleyne Manor in the dreary, dark, wet midday. The aroma of roasted meat greeted us at the door, and having eaten nothing since supper last evening, we were hungry. I was already envisioning the plum pudding rich with Christmas spices and fruit.
The house was aglow with fires in the hearths and candles in the candelabra. Holly and ivy adorned the entrance hall and the staircase. As cruel as my father had been to me, he was not a miserly man, and we always celebrated the Yule season well.
But something strange had happened in my absence. In the six years since I had left home, I had seen my sire on only two occasions, and not at all in the last four years.
When he saw me, he smiled.
“Lark, how you have grown. You look quite a m
