Page 60 of Mirrors of the Past

‘Trust me,’ he said, pulling a face. ‘You may prefer to keep them as handwarmers. One moment. You need something else.’

He slipped away again and Viola saw him go to the mulled-wine stall. He came back with bought two small cups. ‘To take the taste away. Cheers. However, I shall hold them as you’ll need both hands to eat those things.’

‘Deevie,’ she said. And it was divine, actually, to be standing in Russell Square, listening to Christmas carols with the delicious scent of roast chestnuts tickling her nose, and the aroma of mulled wine tempting her into a warming drink. She opened the bag of chestnuts carefully and sniffed again. The shiny, brown nuts were looking awfully tempting and she took one out and looked at it for a moment. Then she looked at Laurie.

‘I find it easier to break it open,’ he said. ‘If you can use your nails, that works well.’

‘All right. I’ll try that.’ She pierced the shell with her thumbnail and exposed a strange, pale centre with a texture she couldn’t quite describe. Not what she was expecting at all. She eased a piece of the nut out and popped it in her mouth. In there, it was an even stranger texture, and, although she valiantly chewed and swallowed it, she found it all coated the inside of her mouth quite unpleasantly.

‘Ugh,’ was all she could say.

Laurie laughed. ‘Here. Take a sip of this. It should help.’ She took the mulled wine gratefully and sipped it, the spices filling her nose and mouth in a much more pleasant way.

‘I ain’t gonna give up on these devils,’ she said, handing the wine back to Laurie. ‘They ain’t gonna beat me.’

‘I salute you, then,’ he said, doing exactly that and bowing for good measure. Luckily, he managed not to spill any of that precious wine and by the time Viola had chewed her way through five of the devils, and he had taken the last one from her out of pity and pulled a face while he ate the thing, it seemed like the mulled wine really was, as he’d said, the best thing in the world to accompany the roast chestnuts.

‘Jeepers, what a disappointment,’ Viola said. ‘I was so looking forward to those. All traditional and everything.’

‘My family would be the first to tell you that “traditional” doesn’t always mean good. But, you’ve tried them, and . . .’ He looked around and held his arms out, encompassing the glorious scene before him. ‘What could be better and more Christmassy than this?’

‘Not much.’

They stood in silence for a moment, neither of them seemingly knowing where to look or what to say. Some form of unsaid words hung between them, as clearly as the choir was singing the notes of “In the Bleak Midwinter”.

Laurie fixed his gaze on her and scowled, and seemed about to speak, and her heart began to pound quite treacherously in her chest.

Perhaps this was a good time for her to reiterate that Christmas wish she’d been toying with, the very first time she’d seen that winter star in the sky . . .

But then—

‘Unca Laurie! Viola!’ The pair of them swung around to see Marigold gamely trudging towards them, waving at them, her own little hand muff hanging at an angle across her body. ‘It’s fun here! Look at the snow!’ The little girl stormed ahead, in front of an efficient-looking woman who Viola assumed was “Nanny”, and stooped to pick up a pile of snow. She squashed it in her hands in a childish attempt at a snowball and threw it, then clapped her hands and laughed delightedly.

‘Marigold Ashby,’ said Laurie, crouching down so she could run at him. She almost knocked him over as he closed his arms around her, then he stood up and swung her around before placing her back on the ground. ‘Good afternoon.’ That little scene did something even more strange to Viola’s stomach. He looked so happy and natural in the child’s company. Yes, he was clearly well used to small people.

She shivered. It wasn’t just that, though, that made her shiver. She had the oddest feeling that they were being watched and she couldn’t work out why. But someone, somewhere, was watching the events here unfold and something was happening somewhere that she couldn’t see, despite the fact she quickly glanced around the scene to check.

Jeepers!

‘Good afternoon.’ Marigold curtsied prettily, bringing Viola back to the present, and Laurie bowed back.

‘I’m sorry, sir,’ said the nanny, hurrying up to them. ‘She saw you and ran, and I couldn’t catch her quickly enough.’

‘It’s not a problem.’ He smiled at the nanny. ‘I thought you were at Mr and Mrs Griffith’s home with her?’

‘We were, but we saw this on our way back and of course we had to stop the carriage and get out, and come and investigate.’

‘I’m not surprised. Well, I suspect Lady Elsie will be pleased to have you back in the warm before too long.’ Then he turned his attention to his niece. ‘Hot milk for you, Miss Ashby. And perhaps a buttered crumpet when you get in?’

‘Buttered crumpets are my favourite,’ said Marigold. Then she leaned confidentially into her uncle, who bent down to hear her. ‘I had a buttered crumpet at Lily’s,’ she whispered — although Marigold’s whisper was not exactly a whisper and quite loud enough for Viola to hear. ‘But I may have another one when I get home. And. Hot chocolate!’ She clasped her little hands over her mouth and made her eyes wide. Laurie copied her gesture and Viola bit her lip to hide her smile.

‘I shan’t tell your mama you had one at Lily’s,’ Laurie said. He bowed again. ‘And I wish you well in your quest for extra buttered crumpets, young lady.’

Marigold spluttered a laugh and reached up for her nanny’s hand. Then she yawned. ‘Yes. I think I am ready to go home now. I am quite cold.’

‘All right. Be a good girl and we will see you soon.’ He bent down and hugged her, then Marigold looked up at Viola and smiled. Viola couldn’t help but bend down and take the tot in her own arms and hug her as well.

They waved at Marigold and Nanny as the pair headed off, and then, finally, they were alone again. Well, as alone as they could be in the middle of a carol concert in Russell Square.

‘I’m afraid,’ Viola said, ‘that I must echo young Miss Ashby and advise you, sir, that I am also ready to go home now. And also quite cold.’

‘Fair enough. Could I get you a cab or something? Or we could share — if you wished. I’ll need one myself as I don’t think I can stand being out here in the snow much longer — although, I have to say, it was worth it.’ Laurie studied her and Viola felt her cheeks redden and heat up. Did he mean it was worth waiting for her outside of Elsie’s or that it was worth walking through the snow to find this magical little scene? Or even, worth it to exchange a few words with his niece.

She cleared her throat. ‘It’s fine and dandy. Really. I’m just up there.’ She pointed to her street, which wasn’t very far at all — you could see it, straight up from the square. But it was, she knew, out of his way. ‘I’ll just walk, no need to escort me. You go ahead and get your cab. You must be frozen.’

Laurie seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. ‘Very well. I’m — um — I’m glad we managed to clear the air a little. So we can behave on the twenty-second.’

‘Yes. I agree. Oh — and Laurie?’

‘Yes?’

‘You waiting in the snow — I agree. It was definitely worth it.’

Then she put her head down, turned in the direction of her street and hurried away through the still-falling snow. Her cheeks were now molten — she could feel them burning — and he could take that comment about it being “worth it” in whichever way he chose.

She knew which way she had meant it.