Free Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Gray by Dorothy Love Page A

awhile back, but he seem to be right as rain these days.” Daniel grinned. “The thought of Christmas coming perked him right up.”
    “Me too.”
    Daniel looked around. “Where’s Cassie?”
    “Staying at Fort Monroe. Captain Talcott’s nieces are ailing, and their mother needed an extra pair of hands. Cassie has grown fond of them and asked my permission to stay.”
    Daniel hoisted the last of our bags into the carriage and held open the door. “Is that ever’thing, Mist’ Robert?”
    “All but the horse and bridle, Daniel.” Robert’s cheeks were pink with cold, and his dark eyes shone with the same excitement I felt at being home.
    “Sir?”
    “A joke. Because Mrs. Lee has seen fit to bring so many trunks on this trip.” Robert helped me into the carriage and scooted in next to me. “Drive on.”
    Daniel spoke to the horses, and we turned for home. Though I had been absent for only six months, the sight of it evoked so many pleasant memories of winters past that my throat tightened. “I wish it would snow so we could go sledding. Do you remember that year when—”
    “I do.” Robert leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I remember what happened later too. In the storeroom.”
    I blushed at the memory.
    He laughed. “Oh me. Stolen kisses, Miss Molly. Weren’t they sweet, though? Perhaps I ought to steal one now.”
    “Behave yourself, Lieutenant. There will be plenty of time for kisses. If I know Papa, he has seen to it that there is mistletoe hanging from every arch and lantern on the place.”
    A few minutes later we were home. Leaving Daniel to deal with the trunks, Robert and I went to the door. Old Peter greeted us warmly and waved us inside. Mother rushed over, wearing a new green dress and the gentle, sweet smile that had sustained me all my life, but she seemed much older than when I had left her only six months earlier. Her skin bore deeper wrinkles, and there was a tiredness in her eyes.
    She clasped my hands and kissed my cheeks. “Mary Anna. You’re home. And dear Robert. How are you, Cousin?”
    “Never better.” Robert shucked out of his coat and handed it to Peter. “Marriage to your daughter agrees with me.”
    Daniel came in, staggering beneath the weight of our bags. Mother sent him up to the room where Robert and I had spent our first nights as husband and wife. I pulled off my coat and gloves, and we went into the parlor where a fire blazed. Mother motioned us to sit before the fire and poured from my great-grandmother’s teapot. “Your papa has been waiting most impatiently for your arrival.”
    “Where is he anyway?” I looked around at the banks of ivy, holly, and myrtle decorating the mantel. A ball of mistletoe hung suspended from a red satin ribbon, just where I expected to find it. “I see he had the greens brought in.”
    “Yes. We had a long spell of wet weather earlier, and he wanted to take advantage of a dry day to get it all cut and arranged.” Mother poured herself some tea. “He is in his study at the moment, wrestling with some verse or the other. I should let him know you’ve arrived.”
    “Stay by the fire, Mother. I know the way to the study.”
    Robert stood as I did. “Take your time, Molly. I’m happy to keep Mother company while you and your papa catch up on the news.”
    I went down the hall to Papa’s study and knocked once.
    “Come in.”
    He looked up from his desk. “Ah. Mary Anna.”
    “I am home, Papa.”
    “So you are. Come let me look at you.” He stood and twirled me around. “None the worse for your six months at Fortress Monroe without your papa.”
    “And you are none the worse either.” I kissed his cheek and noticed a rip in the seam of his shirt. Smudges of ink and cat hair covered the knees of his trousers. Those who criticized my lack of attention to fashion and tidiness might well look to my father for blame. But I found his rumpled appearance endearing. He was a man of many interests and gifts, too busy with his