Mattie walked over to Ellie, and shyly took her hand. “I’m looking after Dr. Crowe,” she said.

  Ellie relaxed and, at last, she smiled. “Thank you,” she said to Mattie, and then she turned to Scuff. “Do you think I could see him?”

  When Scuff nodded, Mattie tugged on her hand. “Come with me,” she said, and then led Ellie out of the kitchen.

  Scuff followed after them. He needed to know how Crowe was doing.

  Crowe was lying exactly where they had left him. His face was so pale it was nearly white, but his eyes were open.

  Mattie took charge. “You’re going to be all right,” she said firmly. “Scuff stitched you all up, after he took the bullet out. I fixed the needles for him.”

  Scuff looked at Crowe carefully. He placed his fingers on Crowe’s wrist. His pulse was regular, and quite strong.

  “You did a good job,” Crowe said softly, directing his comments to both Scuff and Mattie. His voice was dry in his throat. “A very good job. Thank you.” And then he turned his gaze to Ellie. “Your father?”

  “Father will recover. There may be a few problems, but we’ll deal with them. What is most important is that he’ll cooperate with the police. I’ll see him again later on.”

  “And you?” asked Crowe. “How are you?”

  “I’m no longer a hostage to Silas Dolan’s threats. I wish I could feel sadness that he’s dead, and that Paul is under arrest. Instead, I feel free.” Crowe smiled at her reply.

  Scuff observed, and then found his own voice, although it was a little husky. “You taught me well,” he said to Crowe. A sudden smile appeared on his face. “Now you have to stay put for a while, and do as you’re told.”

  Crowe smiled, and looked beyond Scuff to where Ellie was standing.

  She came and sat on the edge of the bed. “Are you really all right?” she asked anxiously. “They say that Silas Dolan shot you.” Her eyes welled with tears, but she ignored them. “If my father honors his word, there’s nobody left to prosecute except Paul Dolan and his gang.”

  “I’m sorry your father was involved. I had hoped he would not be,” Crowe said huskily. He was afraid for her, and it showed in his face.

  “We’ll sell the house,” she said. “And then pay his debts. All of them. And then his name will be, at least in part, saved. It was part of the hold Silas Dolan had over him—to restore his fortune—but there is a better way.”

  “Where will you go?” His voice had an urgency, as if it was unbearable to imagine her leaving for some faraway place. Away from him…out of his life.

  Ellie took a deep breath and bit her lip for a moment, then she looked at him as if she had just come to some inner conclusion. “I thought I would stay here.” She gestured at the space around them.

  “Here?” he repeated. “How could you possibly stay here?”

  “It would be quite proper, you can be certain of that.”

  Crowe studied her face for a moment. “Ellie, you and I would know it was proper, but what about…”

  “The rest of the world?” she asked. “Or just London?”

  “No,” he said. “I can’t let you do that.”

  She looked at him, as if scrutinizing every feature of his face.

  Crowe tried to discern what she was thinking, but nothing logical came to mind. When she finally spoke, he found himself unable to respond.

  “It’s all very acceptable, I assure you,” she said. “That is, if you ask me to marry you.”

  Crowe closed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was choked with tears. “I can’t do that. I can barely feed myself, and this is no place for a lady.”

  She took a sharp breath, another, and then she looked away.

  The way Crowe’s face changed, Scuff knew he was holding back a powerful emotion. Losing Ellie would devastate him.

  “It’s very unladylike,” Ellie said carefully, forcing every word. “But you leave me no choice.”

  There wasn’t a sound in the room.

  “So,” she went on, “I must be the one to ask. Dr. Crowe, will you marry me?”

  In the ensuing silence, Scuff was almost bursting with an impatience he could not contain.

  Crowe tried to sit up, but could not. His head dropped back onto the pillow. “Ellie, what can I offer you? A poor doctor and a clinic that will never provide the kind of comforts so many society doctors enjoy. And no,” he quickly added, “I could never be one of them. This is where I belong, where I’m needed.” He shifted so that he was no longer looking at her, his eyes blinking hard. When he looked back at Ellie, she was smiling.

  “Do you think so little of me that I expect wealth? Or any of those comforts my father insists I must have? If that’s the case, I take back my offer.”

  Crowe looked long and steadily at Ellie, and then let out his breath. “Fine, you win.”

  “Meaning?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “Yes, I will.”

  “Will…what?” She leaned so close their faces nearly touched.

  “Marry you,” he said, and then he smiled. “If you insist.”

  Scuff sensed that it must be close to midnight, and this the longest evening of his life. But the joy he was feeling now, the sense of truly belonging, brought tears to his eyes.

  Suddenly, beyond the wind in the darkness, somewhere in the vast reaches of the city, church bells began to ring, peal after peal.

  Crowe took Mattie’s hand and then, releasing it, gave Scuff’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Happy Christmas,” he said huskily to everyone in the room. Scuff presented Mattie with the doll he had come across. She accepted it with glee.

  Ellie leaned over and kissed Crowe, long and gently. “Happy Christmas,” she replied.

  To Harriet Emily,

  and all who are new to this world,

  and bring trust and joy with them

  THE CHRISTMAS NOVELS OF ANNE PERRY

  A Christmas Journey

  A Christmas Visitor

  A Christmas Guest

  A Christmas Secret

  A Christmas Beginning

  A Christmas Grace

  A Christmas Promise

  A Christmas Odyssey

  A Christmas Homecoming

  A Christmas Garland

  A Christmas Hope

  A New York Christmas

  A Christmas Escape

  A Christmas Message

  A Christmas Return

  A Christmas Revelation

  A Christmas Gathering

  A Christmas Resolution

  A Christmas Legacy

  A Christmas Deliverance

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Anne Perry is the New York Times bestselling author of nineteen previous holiday novels, as well as the William Monk series, the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, the Daniel Pitt series, the Elena Standish series, five World War I novels, and a work of historical fiction, The Sheen on the Silk. She lives in Los Angeles.

  anneperry.us

  Facebook.com/​AnnePerryAuthor

  To inquire about booking Anne Perry for a speaking engagement, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com.

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  Anne Perry, A Christmas Deliverance

 

 

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