Page 82 of The Virtues of Christmas
What did crumpets have to do with—? “Fresh from the bakeshop. Shall we share them, Patience?”
“The lads have all gone home?”
“And Detwiler. I heard him lock up on the way out.” Thus earning a Christmas bonus.
“Are we to be partners, sir? MacHugh and MacHugh?”
Oh, that sounded lovely. Dougal stuck out his hand. “Partners, MacHugh and MacHugh. Might I suggest we take the crumpets upstairs to further discuss our plans for the new year?”
Patience took Dougal’s hand in both of hers. “We might have to add another MacHugh to the name of the business, Dougal. Would that fit with your plans?”
Dougal snatched the parcel of crumpets from the drawer and tossed them to her. “We can add as many junior MacHughs to the name of the business as you like, Patience, but how about we enjoy our crumpets first?”
“Upstairs,” she said. “At a meeting of the senior editorial board. I quite like that idea.”
Dougal liked it too, enough to carry his senior editorial director up the stairs and forget all about the crumpets until at least an hour later. The meeting continued, intermittently, well into Boxing Day. They took a break to admire Mrs. Horner’s response to the professor when it sold out in minutes early that afternoon. By then, the bakeshop had run out of crumpets.
And stollen.
And tarts.
The senior editorial board never ran out of agenda items, though, and both members thereof had a very, very fine Christmas—every year.
–THE END–
To my dear readers,
I always get a boost of inspiration when a story is set at Christmas. It’s the coziest time of year where I live, even if there’s no mistletoe nearby. A novella also seemed like the perfect way to introduce the Windham cousins, Elizabeth, Megan, Charlotte and Anwen. These four ladies will get their happily ever afters in The Windham Bride series, and the first of those stories—The Trouble With Dukes—comes out December 20. Truly, Christmas will come early for me this year! I’ve included an excerpt fromTroublefor you below. Our heroine is Megan Windham, and our hero is Hamish MacHugh, the cousin whom Dougal holds in such affectionate regard.
If you can’t wait until December for your next dose of ducal romance, Elizabeth Hoyt’sDuke of Pleasurewill be on sale November 29. Because we’ve all been very good this year, I’ve been given permission to include an excerpt from that marvelous tale below.
Finally, I’m exceedingly pleased to be able to offer you a sneak peek from the second Windham Bride story,Too Scot to Handle, which doesn’t come out until July 2017. How will we manage to wait that long, when Lord Colin MacHugh is not known for his patience?
We will read many, many excellent romances, that’s how! If you want the latest on all my releases, sales, signings, and other adventures (yes, I’m planning anotherScotland With Gracetour in 2017),sign up for my newsletter,follow me on Twitter, orlike my Facebook page.
Happy reading!
Grace Burrowes
The Trouble With Dukesby Grace Burrowes (Dec. 20, 2016)
Confirmed spinster Megan Windham has offered to teach the Duke of Murdoch how to waltz…
“A couple usually converses during a waltz,” Megan said, as she and the duke started on another circle of the music parlor. “How do you find London, that sort of thing?”
Murdoch’s sense of rhythm was faultless, but he’d apparently misplaced the ability to smile—at all.
“Find London? You go down the Great North Road until you can’t go any farther, then you follow the noise and stink. Can’t miss it. I prefer the drover’s routes myself. The inns are humble, but honest.”
Megan’s mother was Welsh, so a thick leavening of Celtic intonation was easily decipherable to her. She switched to Gaelic, as she occasionally did with family.
“I meant, does London appeal to you?”
Nothing had broken His Grace’s concentration thus far. For dozens of turns about the room, despite Westhaven’s and St. Just’s adventuresome maneuvers with Murdoch’s sisters, and Valentine’s increasingly daring tempo, the duke had become only more confident of his waltzing.
One simple question had him stumbling.
And when a large fellow stumbled, and tried to right himself by grabbing onto a surprised and not very large woman, and that woman stumbled…
