Page 9 of Caroline Saves the Blacksmith
A cloak of melancholy descended, so that she felt as gray as the interior of her shop.
Caroline put the walking dress down on the worktable and scolded herself.
It’s the holidays. Cheer up, Caroline!
Resolutely, she stood up and began to hum the verses she and her grandmother would sing at this time of the year. Checking the back door, she locked it up before walking about the workroom. She lit every candle and lantern in the room to chase the shadows away.
Drawing a deep breath, Caroline broke into song to fill the dreary silence.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
all seated on the ground,
an angel of the Lord came down,
and glory shone around.
Caroline walked to the front of the shop and proceeded to light it up. As the gloom was washed away, her spirits lifted. She had many blessings.
Her walking dress would soon be finished, a priceless garment of the highest quality.
Her seamstresses were doing excellent work, and the shop’s reputation was growing.
Her shop was receiving orders from the finest citizens of the town.
Mr. Johnson’s recent visit had confirmed that her business was proceeding precisely as he had projected it would when he recommended the promising location in Chatternwell.
Little Annie Greer was the picture of health, and her mum was improving.
‘Fear not,’ said he, for mighty dread
had seized their troubled mind;
‘glad tidings of great joy I bring
to you and all mankind.
And she had not strayed since that time with Lord Saunton, so she had mended her ruinous ways and stayed away from men as she had vowed to do after her horrible betrayal of Miss Annabel.
‘To you, in David’s town, this day
is born of David’s line
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord;
and this shall be the sign:
She might be alone on Christmas Eve, but she had a whole new life to celebrate. Considering she was all alone, she could sing the song as loudly as she liked in the privacy of her closed shop.
‘The heavenly Babe you there shall find
to human view displayed,
all meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
and in a manger laid.’
Caroline returned to the back room to prepare tea. While the water boiled, she found the biscuits she had purchased earlier that day at Mr. Andrews’s bakery and laid some out on a plate. She should return to her rooms for dinner, but the landlady had left to visit family in Bath. The idea of being alone in the empty house instead of her fine shop seemed too depressing a prospect.
