Christmas With Mr Darcy Read Online Free PDF Page B

suitcases down before stepping forward and squashing his sister in a hug. His coat was thick and wet with snow and instantly flattened Dame Pamela’s feathery neckline.
    ‘Benedict!’ she cried. ‘What a – surprise! ’
    ‘Ah! You know me – could never resist a surprise.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Dame Pamela said.
    ‘And Christmas is the time for surprises!’ he said, removing his woolly hat and shaking his hair. Droplets of snow sprayed outwards catching both Dame Pamela and Higgins.
    Higgins was just about to lock the door when a slender figure appeared around it.
    ‘Hello?’ she said, her eyes blinking in the sudden brightness of the hallway light.
    ‘Gemma?’ Dame Pamela said, stepping forward.
    Gemma removed her stripy hat and Dame Pamela hugged her, impervious now as to how bedraggled her feathers had become.
    ‘Ah!’ Benedict cried. ‘This is the lovely lady who came to my rescue. My car broke down about five miles away and there was nobody about but then this dear soul turns up and blow me down if she wasn’t heading for Purley!’
    ‘I came in my four by four and it’s a good job I did,’ Gemma told Dame Pamela. ‘Some of the roads are pretty much blocked now and we had to leave the car at the end of the driveway. I hope that’s all right?’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry about that – come and get warm, for goodness’ sake. Higgins – see if you can get the fire going again in the drawing room.’
    ‘Yes, madam.’
    ‘And some drinks.’
    ‘Good idea, Pamsy! A whiskey – that marvellous single malt you have - would go down a treat.’
    ‘I was thinking more of a hot chocolate,’ Dame Pamela said.
    Benedict’s face filled with disappointment as he followed his sister into the drawing room and they sat down as Higgins got the fire going, his bare knees protruding from out of his dressing gown.
    ‘I’m so thrilled you made it, Gemma,’ Dame Pamela said. ‘We were getting worried about you, weren’t we, Higgins?’
    ‘Yes, Madam.’
    ‘All this snow! You are a brave soul!’
    ‘I didn’t want to miss this,’ Gemma said, unwinding her scarf from her neck as the fire got going. ‘I’ve heard so much about your gatherings and I’ve really been looking forward to it.’
    ‘But I must take you to task first,’ Dame Pamela said, tightening up a curler which had worked its way loose.
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘You’re not acting anymore, are you?’
    Gemma shook her head. ‘No,’ she said.
    ‘After the performance you gave as Anne Elliot, I have to say that it’s positively a crime!’ Dame Pamela shook her head in disapproval.
    Gemma gave a little smile. ‘I guess acting just wasn’t for me,’ she said. ‘I used to get so nervous.’
    ‘But we all get nervous,’ Dame Pamela said. ‘That’s what drives a great performance. It’s when you start to relax that it all goes horribly wrong.’
    ‘Yes but I was nervous all the time even when I wasn’t performing. I’d get nervous just thinking about the next job and what I might have to do and what would happen if it all went wrong. I’d have nightmares and get myself so worked up that I couldn’t think about anything else.’
    ‘Oh, dear!’ Dame Pamela said.
    ‘I never get nervous,’ Benedict chipped in, taking a hot chocolate from the silver tray that Higgins had brought into the room.
    ‘No,’ Dame Pamela said. ‘You’re always filled with total confidence that things will go your way.’
    ‘I am indeed, Pamsy,’ he said. ‘Any chance of a splosh of brandy in this?’
    Higgins glanced at Dame Pamela and she nodded in consent.
    ‘Anyway, I’m much happier doing what I’m doing now,’ Gemma said.
    ‘Yes, how is the shop?’ Dame Pamela asked, remembering that Gemma’s handmade knitted clothes for children had become instant bestsellers as soon as they’d gone on sale.
    ‘It’s doing really well,’ Gemma said.
    ‘In Marylebone High Street, isn’t it?’
    Gemma nodded. ‘We’re hoping to open another one in Wimbledon