HOLIDAY PRESENT MM

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Chapter One

England, 1825

The Malory clan always spent the Christmasholidays at Haverston, the ancestral estate in thecountry where the oldest among them had beenborn and raised. Jason Malory, Third Marquis ofHaverston and the oldest of four brothers, wasthe only family member who was still a permanentresident. The head of the family since he wasonly sixteen, Jason had raised his brothers -- twoof whom had been utterly scandalous in theirpursuits -- and a young sister.

At present the various Malorys and offspringwere quite numerous and difficult to place, sometimeseven for Jason himself. So it was a verylarge brood that gathered at Haverston thesedays for the Christmas season.

Jason's only son and heir, Derek, was the first toarrive, more than a week before Christmas. With him came his wife, Kelsey, and Jason's first twoblond and green-eyed grandchildren.

Anthony, his youngest brother, was the next toarrive only a few days after Derek. Tony, as mostof the family called him, admitted to Jason thathe'd deserted London early after hearing thattheir brother James had a bone to pick with him.Annoying James was one thing, and somethingAnthony often strived to do, but when James wasout for blood, well, Tony considered that a differentmatter entirely.

Anthony and James were his youngest brothers,yet only a year apart in age themselves. Theywere both skilled pugilists, and Anthony couldhold his own with the best of them, yet James washeftier, and his fists were frequently likened tosolid bricks.

With Anthony came his wife, Roslynn, and theirtwo daughters. Judith, the oldest at six, had takenafter both her parents, having her mother's gloriousred-gold hair and her father's cobalt blueeyes, a seriously striking combination that Anthonyfeared was going to make her the reigningbeauty of her day -- which as her father and a reformedrake he was not looking forward to.

But his younger daughter, Jaime, was going tobreak some hearts as well.

But even with all his guests, Jason was the firstone to notice the present that had appeared in the parlor while the family was breakfasting. It washard to miss, actually, placed prominently up ona pedestal table next to the fireplace. Wrapped ingold cloth, banded with a red velvet ribbon andbow, it was oddly shaped, nearly like the size of athick book, yet a round protrusion on top suggestedit was nothing that simple.

Poking a finger at it showed that the protrusioncould move, yet not very much, as he found outwhen he tilted the present sideways and it didn'tchange position. Strange, yet stranger still wasthat there was no indication of whom the presentwas from, nor whom it was for.

"A bit early to be passing out Christmas gifts,ain't it?" Anthony remarked as he sauntered intothe room to find Jason holding the present. "TheChristmas tree ain't even been brought in yet."

"That was my thought as well, since I didn'tput it here," Jason replied.

"No? Then who?"

"I've no idea," Jason admitted.

"Who's it for, then?" Anthony asked.

"I'd like to know that myself."

Anthony raised a brow at that point. "Nocard?"

Jason shook his head. "None. I just found it hereon this pedestal myself," he said, and put it back.

Anthony picked up the present as well to pokeat it a bit. "Hmmm, someone sure dressed it up fancy. I'll wager it will fascinate the children -- atleast until we find out what it is."

As it happened, it fascinated the adults as well.In the following days, since none of the familyowned up to having put it there, the present createda sensation. Just about all of the adultspoked, shook, or otherwise examined it, yet noone could figure out what it might be, or whom itwas for.

Those having arrived so far were gathered in theparlor the night when Amy walked in holding oneof her twins. "Don't ask why we're late, youwouldn't believe it," she said, then in the nextbreath, "First the wheel on the coach fell off. Thennot a mile down the road, one of the horses lost notone, but two of his shoes. After we finally get thatall taken care of and we're almost here, the bloodyaxle broke. I thought surely Warren was going tokill that poor coach by then. He certainly kicked itenough. If I didn't think to wager with him that wewould arrive here today, I really don't think wewould have. But you know I never lose a wager,so ... By the by, Uncle Jason, what's an unmarkedgrave doing in that lovely clearing east of here?The one close to the road that runs through yourproperty? We ended up walking through it to gethere, since it was the shorter route by that point, tojust head across that clearing."

No one said a word at first, still in bemusement after that long dissertation. But then Derek said,"Remember that grave m'self, now that you mentionit, cousin. Reggie and I came across it whenwe were younguns gadding about the estate. Alwaysmeant to ask you about it, Father, just nevergot around to it, then forgot about it."

They were all looking toward Jason by then, buthe merely shrugged his broad shoulders. "Devil ifI know who was laid to rest there. That grave hasbeen there since before I was born. Asked my fatherabout it once, as I recall, but he put off answering,hemmed and hawed so much, actually,that I figured he just didn't know, so I didn't askagain."

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Excerpted from The Holiday Present by Johanna Lindsey
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