The Christmas Tart by Mary Jo Putney EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Mary Jo Putney
- Language: English
- Genre: Holiday Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
THE CHRI S T M A S T ART
It began with a ring. One day late in November 1809, the irritable Lady
Guthrie was careless when she searched through her lacquered jewelry case
for the best ornaments to adorn her scrawny person. The heirloom diamond
ring that had come from her husband’s family was valuable but ugly, and
she brushed it aside impatiently as she searched for more attractive
treasures.
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Amidst the clinking of baubles, she didn’t notice when the ring tumbled
from the case, rolled unevenly across the lace-covered surface of the
dressing table, then dropped into the narrow gap between table and wall.
Halfway to the floor, the heavy ring hooked over a wooden peg that had
worked loose until it projected from the back of the table.
And there the ring stayed, suspended, not to be found until the next
year’s spring cleaning. But by then Christmas had come and gone, and so
had the young French seamstress.
A cold, heavy sky made the afternoon seem more like dusk, and it was
difficult for Nicole Chambord to see the riding jacket that she was
trimming. Closing her eyes for a moment, she laid the jacket down and
straightened up, stretching her arms in an effort to relieve the strain on her
back and neck. Sacré bleu! but she would be glad when Christmas was
over.
During the month Nicole had been sewing for Lady Guthrie, she had not
had a single afternoon off. Every night she worked late by candlelight to
complete everything her ladyship deemed necessary for the holidays. While
Lady Guthrie’s important clothing was done by an expensive modiste, there
were many lesser items, such as chemises and undergowns, that could be
made by a household seamstress.
And of course there was always mending, refurbishing older garments,
and making shirts and cravats for Sir Wilfrid, the master of the house.
Nicole had sewed so much that she wore white cotton gloves to prevent her
sore, pricked fingers from bleeding onto valuable fabric.
Still, food in the Guthrie establishment was abundant, if bland, and most
of the other servants were pleasant. Best of all, Nicole was now living in
London, closer to her goal than she had been in Bristol, where she had lived
for fourteen years.
Come spring, she would look for a situation with a fashionable
dressmaker who would be willing to take advantage of an assistant’s design
skills. Someday, after much hard work and saving of money, Nicole would
open a shop of her own called Nicole’s, or perhaps Madame Chambord’s.
She luxuriated in the thought for a moment before she sighed and
returned to her work. The happy day when she would be self-employed was
many years away. Just now, her task was to use her nearly invisible stitches
to attach military-style braid to the jacket in her lap.
She was just finishing the job when the butler, Furbes, swept into the
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