A Christmas Affair Read Free Page A

“Really, Amanda,” she began in the hectoring tones that Amanda was growing to hate, “I can not think why you insist upon keeping that cook in your employ. She is too forward by half, and her breads leave a great deal to be desired. You really must replace her.”
    Amanda bristled in instant defense of the cook, her dark eyes narrowing as her aunt took her chair before the fire. Mrs. Hatcher had been with them since before her father’s death, and she had proven a loving and loyal friend over the years. She opened her lips to administer a sharp retort when she caught Amelia’s eye. At the gentle shake of the younger girl’s head, she reluctantly amended her speech. “I shall have a word with her, Aunt,” she managed, gritting her teeth with determination.
    “See that you do,” Mrs. Elizabeth Herrick sniffed, settling her starched mobcap on her thin and graying locks. “And while you’re about it, you might also have a word with the butler. I distinctly smelled spirits on him last night. A proper household manager would never tolerate a servantwho imbibes.”
    Amanda clenched her hands into tight fists. “Yes, Aunt” she said, fighting the urge to toss the disagreeable old woman into the nearest snowbank. Relative or nay, she fumed silently, there was only so much she was willing to tolerate in the name of familial obligation.
    “And I think it time you were dismissing the maids as well.” Mrs. Herrick began helping herself to the meager tea the girls had been sharing prior to her arrival. “You pay them far too much to my way of thinking, and in any case it will do you girls no harm to help earn your keep. You do little enough as it is.”
    This was too much for Amanda, and she leapt to her feet, the trousers she’d just finished mending tumbling to the floor. “How dare you, ma’am!” she cried, her thin face flushing with fury. “This is my brother’s house, and I will thank you to remember that fact!”
    “Indeed?” Rather than taking offense, the older woman looked faintly amused. “I shouldn’t be so certain of that, missy.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “Merely that I would have a word with your guardian if I were you,” Mrs. Herrick said, taking a greedy bite of a fruit tart. “This house belonged to my grandfather, and should anything happen to Daniel, I will be next to inherit. It has been what . . . six months since you’ve had news of him? And anything can happen in wartime. Who knows” — she sent both girls a poisonous smile—“he could well be lying dead even as we speak.”
    “Why you hateful old —” Amanda began hotly, only to be interrupted by a horrified cry from Amelia.
    “No! No, Daniel is not dead! He’s not . . . is he Amanda?” She turned to her older sister, seeking comfort and reassurance as she had always done.
    Amanda’s heart broke at the frightened look on Amelia’s face. She longed to tell her that all was well, but there wasno denying that the long silence was ominous. Tamping down her own fears, she turned a look of such fury on Mrs. Herrick that the woman shrank back in her chair. Amanda paid her no mind but rushed to her sister’s side.
    “Hush, my dear,” she soothed, slipping a comforting arm about Amelia’s shoulders as she helped her to her feet. “We mustn’t even think such things. Come now, let me help you to your room” and she guided her gently toward the door. When they reached their destination, she turned to cast a final, glaring look at her aunt.
    “I shall speak with our guardian,” she said, her voice cold with menace. “In the meanwhile, if you dare repeat such things in front of the other children, I vow I’ll have you thrown out into the snow. Do you understand me?”
    “Really!” Mrs. Herrick was shaken but still determined. “You can not take that tone with me! I am your aunt,and—”
    “Do you understand me?” The words were all the more threatening because of the soft manner in which they were