Christmas at a Highland Castle

Chapter 29

Sebastian had to admit he enjoyed opening up the music room to the village choir the following day. Aggie Fernell had made enough of a recovery to join her fellow singers and he couldn’t help but notice the way her gaze kept straying to the grand piano, the delighted smile when he’d asked if she’d like to play it, to accompany the singers.

She’d almost shoved him out of the way to get herself into position on the piano stool, and Sebastian had happily stood back. The grand piano Sebastian had grown up playing was a fantastic instrument – and having clonked his way through the carols on the village hall’s piano, he was beginning to properly appreciate it. He knew how well it measured up to those used by professional pianists from the orchestras he’d worked with and appreciated his privilege of having grown up with it.

He knew now, also – courtesy of the Macwarrens – that the piano had been bought and placed in Kirkshield Castle for far more than its aesthetic merits. The generations who came before him had also enjoyed it for its musicality, rather than as a status symbol. Somehow, that thought had him smiling as he listened to Aggie’s rendition of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’.

Whatever Jess had said when she’d suggested they move rehearsals to the castle had gone some way to denting some of the negativity he’d felt from the locals at previous rehearsals. It wasn’t gone completely. He had a long way to go if he wanted to truly integrate the castle and the community once more – but he no longer felt utterly overwhelmed by the task. And if he did have moments of uncertainty, he simply recited Jess’s mantra: brick by brick.

Jess had kept quiet about her aunt’s singing ability, but a fully independent and wheelchair-free Vivi had also joined the choir and, if he didn’t know better, he would have assumed Jess had inherited her ability from Vivi. It appeared many of the assembled group had already commented to that effect, and both Vivi and Jess were happy with the assumption, even if it wasn’t strictly accurate.

At the conclusion of the latest rehearsal, Sebastian had asked if the choir would like to perform at the house on Christmas morning. He intended to invite everyone from the village – make a big deal of the work the choir had put in – and they seemed more than happy to agree. He also promised them mulled wine and mince pies. Maybe the promise of alcohol was what had swung things for the handful of doubters.

As Jess busied herself wishing everyone a good evening as she let them out via the scullery door, Vivi had pulled him aside. She had told him in no uncertain terms that Jess would only remain at Kirkshield Castle for another couple of weeks, before being deployed elsewhere.

He’d assumed, incorrectly, that Jess had confessed the estate’s poor financial status to Vivi, and that the business owner in Vivi was protecting not only her foster daughter but her business asset, too. However, what Vivi had gone on to say had painted the situation in a very different light – and had left Sebastian with plenty to think about.

When Jess reappeared in the music room, her gaze travelled between the two of them.

‘What are you cooking up, Vivi?’ she said, suspicion dominating her features.

‘Nothing.’ Vivi turned to Sebastian, and he didn’t know how he managed to stifle a laugh at the effort she was making in order to keep a straight face. ‘She’s always so very suspicious. I have no idea where she gets her natural scepticism from – it can’t be from me.’

‘I was asking Vivi if she might like to come to lunch with us on Christmas Day. I thought it might be nice for her to be here,’ he said.

Sebastian wanted to believe he’d impressed the older lady with his quick thinking, but Jess’s expression remained suspicious. Eventually she smiled. ‘That’s a lovely idea. Thank you.’ She turned to Vivi. ‘Will the Macwarrens mind? Or do you think they’ll be pleased to have some time off from you?’

‘Cheeky,’ Vivi said, thrusting a carrier bag at Jess, who peered inside, then pulled out a soft parcel wrapped in Christmas paper.

‘You’ll be needing this, I fancy,’ Vivi said, gesturing to the present. ‘It’s wrapped in Christmas paper, Isla didn’t have anything else, but I want you to open it now.’

‘It feels like it’s a jumper,’ Jess said, ditching the plastic bag on a chair and sliding a finger under the sticky tape. ‘It’s not that cold in here, Vivi.’

‘Very pleasantly warm, if you ask me. Might even get warmer if you play your cards right.’

Jess frowned at Vivi’s comment but kept her focus on the parcel. Inside was a dress. Sebastian was far from an expert when it came to dresses, but even he could see how pliable the black velvet was, how it flowed from Jess’s fingers as she found the shoulders and held it up, the material cascading almost to the ground. Jess held it against herself, and Sebastian could appreciate how it would coat her gentle curves. He swallowed, glancing at Vivi – who held his gaze for a beat longer than necessary, eyebrows arched.

‘I’m not sure when I’ll get to wear it, but thank you, Vivi. It’s really beautiful.’ Jess smiled, then folded it over her arm.

‘And so are you,’ Vivi said. ‘Now. Where’s Digby? I need my Digby fix before I go back to the village. I bet you can’t wait to get him out of your hair permanently, can you?’

The conversation moved back to safer territory, and Sebastian trailed the two women from the music room. He felt as though he’d just been spectacularly outmanoeuvred by Vivi, and he couldn’t work out if he wanted to smile at the audacity of what she’d said to him or be annoyed with himself for not thinking of it first.

As they crossed through the picture gallery, Sebastian breathed in the scent of pine and gazed up at the enormous fir freshly installed at one end of the space. Lit by strings of white lights, with clear or pearlescent baubles hanging from its boughs and dotted here and there with homemade paper shapes – angels and doves – the tree had his mother’s stamp all over it. A silver star perched on the tree’s very highest point. The whole thing looked perfect. There hadn’t been a tree like this in Kirkshield for more years than Sebastian cared to remember, and this one had taken some hauling in. Robbie had needed help from the estate manager, Ben, and one of the local farmer’s sons, to be able to move it. But the effort was worth it – and it made the space the perfect place to welcome the villagers on Christmas morning.

There was another benefit to having such a big tree in the gallery, and this one did have Sebastian grinning: someone had decided to set the tree up to one side of the end wall, rather than in the centre, and in its current position it almost completely obscured the painting of Sebastian’s father.