Page 21 of Mrs. Holloway's Christmas Pudding

His whisper wound through me, warming me in the icy December air.

The next day, Christmas Eve, Daniel sent a note to me via James that a high concentration of ipecac had indeed been found in the bottle I’d taken from Mr. Whitaker’s bedside, a much stronger elixir than should have been there. A magistrate, unhappy he had to listen to cases on Christmas Eve, decided there was enough evidence to lock up Dr. Burnley to await a trial.

Another doctor now attended Mr. Whitaker and was giving him the right medicines to help him recover.

I was relieved I’d found the solution in time. The Whitakers were a doting couple, their nephew was a cheerful lad, and now they had a daughter to bring into the family. A happy ending for all of them.

Not, I thought, for the gentleman who owed Mr. Whitaker so much money, but from what I’d heard Mr. Whitaker tell his nephew, he was being kind to Mr. Hardy about the repayment.

I speculated that Dr. Burnley had upped the dose after my visit to Mr. Whitaker, worried that I or Mrs. Provost could help by giving Mr. Whitaker food that would ease his symptoms. Either that or he’d pictured himself comforting the widowed Mrs. Whitaker through the rest of the Christmas season.

Dr. Burnley’s arrest also absolved me of Mrs. Bywater’s conviction that I’d served a tainted dish at her supper party. Now that I no longer had to worry about the mistress sacking me—for that, anyway—I was free to concentrate on Christmas dinner.

Tess and I prepared the tarts, cakes, and breads on Christmas Eve, and boiled down stock for the soups. Cynthia’s father had indeed brought a few game birds to Town with him, which were plucked, cleaned, and in the stockpots before I went to bed.

On Christmas morning, I rose very, very early. The goose went straight into the oven, stuffed at the last minute. Then I had to fix breakfast for the family and servants, followed by cooking the vegetable dishes and accompaniments to the goose, as well as re-boiling the Christmas pudding for a few hours.

Tess and I worked like fury, and just before one, had all in readiness. The soup and fish course went up, the dishes quickly coming back empty. Mr. Davis himself supervised loading the roast goose into the dumbwaiter, then he ran upstairs to receive it in the dining room.

“I’ll watch over the rest,” Tess said to me as she cranked the dumbwaiter upward. “You go on. It’s only Christmas one day a year.”

“I hate to leave you to do the rest alone.” I was torn, both wanting to be with Grace but wracked with guilt for leaving Tess on Christmas.

“I’m seeing my brother tomorrow for Boxing Day,” Tess said. “And Caleb. I’ll be all right.”

She shooed me away, and I let her. I ran upstairs to change my frock for my best one then hurried out the door before Mrs. Bywater could think of an excuse to need me a few minutes longer.

I hugged Grace hard when I reached Joanna’s home and had another happy surprise. Daniel was there, along with James. Joanna had invited them, saying nothing to me.

“I thought you would be with Mr. Thanos all day,” I said to Daniel as we went into the dining room, where the table had been decorated with paper chains in lively colors.

Daniel held my chair for me as he answered. “Elgin is engrossed in two problems—one involves calculating the distance to a cluster of stars, and the other is how to concoct a meal to please Lady Cynthia. His landlady is helping with that. I would be in the way.”

“Well, I am glad you are here,” I said in all sincerity.

Joanna and her cook had put together a splendid meal. There was a fine roasted a hen, a large salad of greens, a dish of stewed carrots, and a heap of tasty, roasted potatoes. Not only that, but Joanna had prepared her own Christmas pudding.

Sam carried it in proudly, bluish flames flickering from the brandy he’d ignited. He set down the domed concoction and lifted the knife, waiting for the fire to die.

“Not a plum in sight,” I murmured as Sam sliced into it.

“Pardon?” Joanna blinked at me, but Daniel chuckled.

“I’ll have a large helping.” I held out my plate when it was my turn to be served, and Sam obliged with a laugh.

We had Christmas crackers—somehow Daniel and I ending up pulling one apart together. I got the larger half, to Daniel’s great amusement. We all put on paper crowns and dug into the pudding.

Grace spooned plenty of hard sauce onto hers and eagerly scooped up her first bite. Joanna had made the sauce without brandy, in deference to the five children who’d eat it.

“I have a sixpence,” Grace cried, lifting it from her fork.

“So do I,” James declared.

“I believe I do as well,” Daniel said.

I bit down on something metal and gently spit a coin into my hand. “Sam, really. You don’t need to hand out so much money.”

Sam grinned. “It’s Christmas, Kat. We need a little joy at least once a year.”

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