With the children safely in the care of Maria and Horatio's nanny, Colonel Ambrose and his family bundled up in two carriages and headed for Handscomb Court. Holly sat beneath two wool blankets for warmth, but still she nestled up to her mother's side.

"You're going to do splendidly," Mrs. Ambrose said, patting Holly's hand reassuringly.

Holly didn't realize she needed to be comforted until her mother had said anything. At the warm touch, a knot in her stomach seemed to loosen. She hadn't even known she was nervous until they pulled up a long drive and the knot shot into her throat.

As she caught sight of Handscomb Court through the carriage windows, Holly tried to remember what she knew of Lady Colston. At a distance she seemed a dignified and refined woman, but Holly was suddenly overwhelmed with the sense that she wanted to be liked by her.

The carriage stopped and they descended to the snowy drive, the second carriage close behind. Holly had seen the home of the Colston family before, but only from the main road. Up close, it seemed much bigger and twice as intimidating. It was a large white mansion with towering columns and windows between that cast glowing panes of light across the drive.

Holly headed through the front door and into the grand foyer, her parents and siblings at her heels. The hall was much more impressive than anything she had ever seen before. The marble floors were polished to a glistening shine, which reflected the golden light of the crystal chandelier that was the focal point of such a grand entryway. Before Holly could take it all in, she beheld Lady Colston with her son at her side and another young woman on the other.

"Welcome, Miss Ambrose," the elderly woman said with measured words. Her white, wispy hair was curled neatly under a bonnet fashioned with ostrich feathers and her gown a style unlike any Holly had ever seen. Holly tried to keep her wits about her as the elegant woman glided forward. All of Lady Colston's features were pointed from her brows to her nose to her chin, making her look altogether severe.

Holly gave a polite reply and the lady gave her a little grin that softened her features. Archibald stepped up to greet her next.

"Miss Ambrose." He gave her a nod of the head, all propriety and refinement. "May I introduce my sister, Olivia," he said, gesturing to the woman to his left. She looked only a year or two younger than Holly and had fine blonde curls and an undeniable elegance to her appearance that seemed to come naturally to women of high station.

"It's a pleasure," Holly replied, moving aside so the others could greet Lady Colston.

"You are the first to arrive and mother says Archie is to be your escort for the evening," Olivia said with a little glint in her eye.

Holly figured this was as good a sign as any that Lady Colston would assign her son to be her escort. Archibald broke off from the others to lead them into the parlor. He took Holly's arm through his and lead her out of the entry hall.

"Archie?" Holly whispered playfully, squeezing the arm of Archibald's dinner jacket with her gloved hand.

"Yes," he said quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "That's Livie's pet name for me."

"It is a charming name," Holly said as Archibald motioned for her to take a seat on a sofa. To her delight, he immediately took the seat beside her for himself.

Holly took a moment to glance around the parlor, which was a lot to take in. The parlor of Handscomb Court was twice the size of the parlor in Ambrose Manor, and displayed an intimidating array of dark framed oil portraits interspersed between heavy, fringed draperies. It was decked for Christmas and a towering evergreen glowed in a corner, but Holly felt surprisingly out of place among the finery. And judging by the stiffness of her family, she guessed they felt it too.

"You don't think I've grown out of it?" Archibald asked, drawing Holly out of her daze.

"Perhaps, but I would have to know more of your character before I made such an analysis," she whispered.

Another party entered the parlor — a father and son, Holly guessed, and the younger of the two had Olivia on his arm when they entered. They were soon introduced as Lord Innsbrook and his son, Felix.

Holly wonder why Olivia looked miffed to be seated beside Felix but she understood as soon as Mr. Innsbrook opened his mouth. When Felix spoke he did so in a terribly nasal voice and with more volume than was necessary for the setting. Evidently a title didn't beget basic manners in Felix's case as he continued to dominated the conversation with talk of all his important friends in London until Lady Colston came into the parlor to move everyone to the dining room.

Holly wouldn't have believed a room could have been more lusciously decorated than Lady Colston's parlor, but the dining room outshone it by leaps and bounds. The room had a colonnade of its own that was decked in holiday wreaths. Between these columns an assortment of marble busts and figures watched from the edges of the room in intimidating form.

Archibald placed Holly at her seat, which was beside his own. She was especially glad to see that Felix was seated on the other side of the massive table and she wouldn't reasonably be expected to converse with him. Olivia wasn't so lucky.

"Your dining room is magnificent," Holly admitted, running a hand over the white, damask linen that covered the table.

"Thank you," Lady Colston said with a satisfied smile. "I've been meaning to redecorate but with my husband's passing, this house belongs to my son." She placed a gentle hand on Archibald's arm as she spoke. "I hope he will find a mistress for it soon."

Holly thought she saw Lady Colston wink at her son but she couldn't believe such a refined woman capable of such a gesture.

"Mother," Archibald scolded gently, his lips pulling into a polite smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh," Lady Colston smirked. "I thought I was being obvious."

She gave Holly an undeniable wink this time but Holly felt suddenly too nervous to formulate a proper reply.

The footmen laid a first course of foie gras before them and Felix launched into a soliloquy, lauding the abilities of the french chef he and his father kept in London. Holly felt Archibald stiffen every time the man spoke and appreciated his attempts to keep Felix from souring the mood of a dinner party into which his mother had evidently put a great deal of effort.

"Do you play piano, dear?" Lady Colston asked while the butler arranged plates for the main course at the sideboard.

"I do," Holly replied.

"Very well, I might add," Horatio chimed in from Holly's left side.

"I could use some music after dinner," Lady Colston sighed as a plate of pheasant was set in front of her. "You must play for us."

Holly couldn't find any reason to refuse so she agreed.

After dessert the doors to the dining room were opened and the party moved into the drawing room. Archibald immediately escorted her to the piano.

"Don't think I have forgotten about the surprise you promised me," she whispered as she took a seat on the piano bench.

"Of course," Archibald said as he pulled a folio of sheet music from the bookcase next to the piano.

"Are you choosing a song for Miss Ambrose, Archie?" Olivia asked, moving to inspect her brother choice of music (and to escape Felix's attentions).

"Yes," Archibald said with a playful smirk. He pulled a sheet from the folio and placed it on the stand before Holly.

Holly eyed the bars and looked back over her shoulder. "This is a duet."

"I know," Archibald said taking the seat next to her on the bench.

"A duet!" Lady Colston chimed in. "What a good choice," she added giving her son an approving nod.

Holly set her fingers to play the melody.

"You go high and I'll go low," Archibald confirmed and Olivia started the metronome so they could keep pace with each other.

"Wait," Holly paused, lifting her hands from the keys. She removed her white, silk gloves and placed them in her lap. "Now we can begin."

Holly started in on the melody, her fingers hitting the familiar notes of the Christmas hymn Archibald had chosen. He soon joined in, matching her with a jaunty harmony. Holly watched his hands move as much as she watched the music. They were light on the keys, moving playfully closer and closer to her own until at last their hands collided.

The touch of his hand on hers sent a tingling through her fingers and she suddenly stopped playing. Archibald broke into a laugh that made her smile. She quickly slipped her hands back into her gloves and allowed him to escort her away from the piano, but he didn't move to find a seat for her. Instead he excused Holly and himself from the room and led her out a side door and into a long hallway.

"Is this my surprise?" Holly asked as she followed Archibald to another part of the large house.

"Maybe," he said with an impish smile.

The hall veered to the left and Holly found herself at a pair of double doors. She paused with her hand above the handle to look back at her escort.

"Go ahead," he urged.

Holly pushed open the door and was greeted with a draft of cooler air and a great glass room filled with green. She gasped with delight. "A solarium!"

She moved deeper into the room, taking in the towering ferns and tropical plants she had only ever seen in the pages of books.

"Is this a good surprise?" Archibald asked, following close behind as Holly ran her hands over each new plant she found.

"Yes," she said breathlessly. "I only wish I had my notebook with me to take rubbings of some of these."

They took a lap through the solarium, Holly taking a mental note of some plants she wanted to read more about, but they didn't stay nearly as long as she would have wanted.

"I would let you spend a lifetime in here, but—" he paused, his cheeks flushing. "But I wouldn't want to raise suspicions at us being here alone for very long."

Holly nodded and let herself be led from the room. "Thank you," she said emphatically as they moved back towards the drawing room.

"I'm hoping it might entice you to call on us again," Archibald said, pulling Holly to a stop at the drawing room door. Her breath caught for a moment as her mind flitted to the letter in her vanity. Archibald certainly had the intelligence to write a letter as the one she had received, but she wondered if someone of his fine upbringing would be so forward. And had he really been admiring her from afar?

Holly smiled."I am sufficiently enticed."

Archibald gave her a curious grin which creased his shallow cheeks. She wasn't quite ready to return to the others but she knew her siblings would have plenty to say once they were home.

When they entered the drawing room, Holly made eye contact with her mother first. Mrs. Ambrose didn't look the least scandalized — only like she had visions of proposals dancing in her head.

Upon their return, Holly's carriage arrived at Ambrose Manor first and she was able to rush off to her room before her siblings could ambush her with questions. She would deal with their suppositions in the morning. Tucked into bed, Holly pulled out the letter she had removed from her vanity and reread the words once more. Could Archibald have been its author?

Thank you all for reading! If you're enjoying this little Christmas tale, don't forget to vote and comment! Plus here's a bonus character portrait just for you guys!