Page 30 of Lord of the Lost

Devlin lay in bed, Mona curled against him, as the maid came quietly in to build up the fire, so that they might have a warm room to dress in. Only once the maid had gone did he open his eyes. There had been no dreams – not for weeks now, and he hoped that there would be no more for a very long time. He felt so much better in the morning, when the dreams did not exhaust him at night.

Through the tiny space where the curtains did not quite meet, a sliver of brightness reached across the floor – winter sun, reflected off snow.

He stretched, and Mona stirred, reaching for him. He pressed a kiss to her brow.

“We should rise, my darling wife – we have much to do today, and you will be slow, now that you are so obviously increasing.”

She gave him an irritated little shove.

“I may be carrying our child, but I am far from incapacitated! I am looking forward to this afternoon’s festivities as much as you are.”

He pushed the covers back, and rose, going to the bell pull, and tugging it to summon Millie and Chalmers.

An hour later, as they sat in the breakfast room with his mother and sister, the conversation was all about what would happen later that day.

“Are you quite sure, Devlin, that there will be enough food?”

“Absolutely sure, Mother. We have made every shopkeeper in the county happy, by buying so much for this gathering. I sent some of the drapery that we decorated the ballroom with down to the hall, and the ladies will be decorating it now.”

“Good, good,” his mother turned her gaze to Mona. “You must be careful, my dear – the ground will be slippery, and you mustn’t fall. I want to be certain that you look after yourself, and the grandchild you carry!”

Devlin could tell that Mona wanted to groan, for his mother had become steadily more inclined to fuss at her of late, but she contained herself admirably.

“I’ll be careful, Mother, I promise.”

Devlin looked at the large clock on the mantel, then turned back to the table.

“We’d best get on – I have asked for the carriages to be at the door in two hours, with all of the gifts and other supplies loaded. If we are to be ready when everyone arrives at two of the clock, we must hurry.”

Gabrielle set down her cutlery, swallowed, then dabbed at her lips with her napkin.

“I will go and prepare myself immediately! I am so looking forward to this – I don’t remember us having any kind of Christmas celebrations, here at the Castle, or in the village, since I was very small. It will be especially delightful because so many of the people who will be there are those we have helped, those whose loved ones went to war to protect us, and never came home. I suspect that many of the children have never had a Christmas celebration at all.”

Devlin nodded.

“I think you are correct in that.”

~~~~~

As they stepped out of the carriages in front of the village hall, people surrounded them, and a cheer was raised. Mona looked quickly at Devlin, expecting him to flinch, or worse, but he simply smiled, and relief filled her.

“Let’s get inside out of the cold, everyone.”

They took his words as a command, and the crowd parted to let Devlin and his family through, then hurried back into the hall after him. The space was decorated with green bows, holly, and draped fabric, and absolutely full of people – far more women and children than men, Mona thought sadly – who all looked happy and reasonably healthy. Devlin took her hand, and turned to face the crowd.

“It is wonderful to see you all here. What we have been able to achieve in the last few months will be talked of for generations. Whilst I have provided funds, and some accommodation, what has made the difference is the work that all of you have done. Whilst we honour all of the loved ones we have lost to war, we are building something in their memory. This village has grown – in population, and in prosperity – and will continue to grow. If those we have lost could look down on us now, they would be proud, and no doubt relieved that all of their loved ones are well cared for. But today is not for speeches – today is for us to celebrate Christmas, and our combined strength as one big family together. There is food and drink, and…” at that moment the doors opened again, and three footmen came in, each carrying huge baskets, “there are gifts for all of you. Please enjoy the day.”

The children’s eyes had gone round at the sight of the baskets full of gifts, and the adults raised another cheer, before turning to the back of the hall, where some of the women were already carrying out food to set on the waiting tables. Devlin and his family stepped to one side, and settled onto the chairs which awaited them.

Mona leant against Devlin’s side, and whispered to him as she watched the activity in the hall.

“This is wonderful! Are you pleased that your idea has worked so well?”

“I am, and I meant what I said about the lost looking down on this and being proud. I may sometimes still dream, but I doubt that I will ever feel pressed by the lost again, when I am awake. And… I’ve been thinking again. Do you think that people would appreciate it, if we raised a memorial stone in the centre of the square, with the names of all of the men who went to war, from this district, and never came home? To make sure that they are not forgotten, in the future?”

Mona regarded him with surprise, and a growing delight.

“Devlin, that’s a magnificent idea. I think that we should do it, as soon as possible. We can set the man of business we hired to arrange all of the charitable work to collecting a list of their names and details, so that when the weather warms again, and a stone mason can undertake the work, we’ll be ready.”