Page 154 of Snowbound Surrender

“Of course,” Hunter said, standing so quickly his chair nearly fell backward, but he caught it just in time. “Ah, Abbot,” he said as the man made to leave. “I don’t suppose you know what this is all about?”

“I have my suspicions, my lord, but they are just that,” said the butler with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to be presumptuous.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes but nodded, dismissing the man. Just what was his wife up to now?

“I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!” Scarlett was exclaiming as he entered the room, where servants were gathered in the center, some even up on the second-floor balcony as they listened to his wife speak. Goodness, did he really have this many people on his staff? He hadn’t thought too much of it before, as he primarily saw to Spicer, Abbot, and Mrs. Shepherd, but he supposed that from the grooms down to the scullery maids, there would be a fair number of them. Did Scarlett know them all?

“Andtoday, the day after Christmas, we of course have boxes for all of you!”

Boxes?

“Boxing Day, my lord,” Spicer’s hushed voice came in his ear. The man could be a spy for how well he was able to sneak up on him. Hunter had heard of the idea, of course, but did anyone actually practice it? His family certainly never had — though, that wasn’t saying much as they pretty much skirted anything to do with Christmas. What was his wife up to? And why were all the servants out of their usual dress?

“Mrs. Shepherd and Abbot will help me distribute them,” Scarlett continued, and Hunter grinned as he looked at her, finding she had a slight glow about her today, from her wide grin to the animated way she buzzed around like a bee between the pile of boxes sitting beside her and the various members of the staff who approached to help her.

“But before you go, I just wanted to say how much we — ah, here is Lord Oxford now,” she waved a hand for him to approach. “How much we appreciate your service, both yesterday through a … wonderful Christmas, to how much you do for us each and every day of the year. Now, the snow is beginning to clear and the sun is shining. Have a lovely day off, each and every one of you!”

A murmur began to rise from amongst the crowd of them gathered, as Hunter finally made his way to his wife, nodding and smiling at people who approached him with words of thanks.

“Scarlett!” he exclaimed as he finally reached her. “What in heaven’s name is happening here?”

“Boxing Day,” she said, turning to him with a face full of glee. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“What did you give them?” he asked, slightly concerned as he thought of his pocketbook and his ever-growing donations to charity. He supported it to be sure, but one had to be careful.

“Why, it depends on the person,” she said, biting her lip, “doesn’t every gift?”

“How did you know what they would enjoy?” he asked, bringing a hand to his head, rubbing his temple.

“Oh, Mrs. Shepherd and Abbot helped,” she said, shrugging a shoulder, “but primarily little trinkets or books or something of the sort. Some from our library and items no longer in use, others from the shops in town.”

“And the day off?”

“Of course!” she said, looking at him with a bit of chagrin now as she began to sense that perhaps he wasn’t as pleased with her actions as she herself was. “That’s what Boxing Day is all about.”

“Lord Oxford, I must speak with you.”

Hunter turned at the dry, gravelly voice, finding the tall man staring down at him. Ah, Stone. He had completely forgotten about the man through all that happened over the Christmas season.

“Mr. Stone,” Scarlett said with both greeting and consternation, and the man turned to her, an evil sneer of disgust that even Hunter didn’t miss covering his face. “Lady Oxford.”

“We best go in my office,” Hunter said with a sigh, wishing he could turn back the clock to an hour prior when he had been so pleased with the events of the day. “Come along, Stone.”

The man followed him in silence, for Hunter was unsure of what to say to him. He typically left the management of servants to his butler or Stone himself, but he was the only one who could deal with this.

He took a seat behind his desk in his mahogany leather chair, motioning Stone to sit in front of him.

“Your wife has been busy once more,” Stone said, looking at him out of his beady dark eyes.

“Yes, I have found that she typically is,” Hunter replied, having no desire to discuss Scarlett with the man with whom she seemed to clash so harshly. “Following our conversation, I spoke with my wife regarding the accounts,” he began. “I also visited some of my tenants to determine for myself the true nature of the rents and the spending.”

“Oh?” Stone asked, making an apparent attempt to remain unaffected, though Hunter noted his eyes darting from one side of the room to the other in unease, never quite landing on him.

“What happened to the rents, Stone? They were increased so high, my tenants could no longer afford to live in any sort of comfort.”

“Tenants were never meant to live in comfort, my lord,” Stone said, raising an eyebrow.

“You know what I am referring to, and do not pretend you don’t,” Hunter ground out, narrowing his eyes at him. “As I don’t have the detailed accounts, I have yet to determine where the revenue was placed, but I will soon find out. At any rate, they have now been lowered back to what is appropriate.”