The Christmas Secret by Julia London Page A

read, “ ‘My love,’ ” and the guests twittered and fussed like a flock of birds.
    “ ‘Where shall I begin?’ ” she read.
    “At the beginning,” one stubborn male voice called out, and while a few gentlemen laughed, the ladies hissed at the man to be quiet.
    Keira continued, “ ‘I suffer. I suffer the misery of keeping my affections secret, and my misery knows no end. When I see you, my heart fills my chest and my throat. I cannot speak for fear of confessing my true feelings, yet I must keep my countenance plain so that no one suspects. I see you laugh with gentlemen, and my heart constricts so tightly I cannot find my breath. I suffer.’ ”
    “He will not suffer long with a heart so weak.” Eireanne started; Henry had snuck up behind her. “Would you not agree?” he asked softly.
    Eireanne smiled. “I cannot fault his effort, but he might have explained why he must keep his countenance plain,” she whispered.
    “Good point,” Henry agreed.
    “Perhaps the author of this letter is married,”Mr. Cahill suggested idly, saying aloud what several in the room were surely thinking.
    “Heavens, Mr. Cahill!” Molly exclaimed. “I should think not!”
    Mr. Cahill shrugged indifferently.
    “Perhaps the receiver of the letter is married,” Mr. O’Shay countered.
    “Good Lord, that is even worse,” Mabe scolded him.
    “There is more,” Keira said, and the women shushed the men to hear it. “ ‘I pass the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of you on your morning walk, and I am filled with anxiety until I see you,’ ” Keira continued. “ ‘Yet once my eyes have seen the beauty that is you, only then may I rest and return to the day’s duties.’ ”
    “ Dia, ” Declan muttered.
    “We shall solve this straightaway,” Grandmamma said. “Who among us has a morning walkabout?” she asked, and raised her hand.
    Almost every woman in the room raised her hand as well, and Grandmamma looked perturbed by the show of hands. “That will not do,” she said. “Surely someone knows—”
    “Let us hear the letter!” someone boldly called from the back of the room, and Grandmamma gasped at the effrontery to keep her from speaking.
    Keira cleared her throat once more, drawing all attention back to her.  “ ‘I long to tell you that I have fallen very much in love,’ ” she read. “ ‘Yet I cannot think how I shall relay to you my esteem without consequence. I suffer.’ ” She lowered the vellum.
    No one spoke for a moment. Some ladies gazed wistfully at Keira. Many guests peered suspiciously at whoever happened to be in their line of sight.
    “Look at the gentlemen in this room,” Henry whispered to Eireanne. “Some of them clearly do not comprehend why the ladies gaze at them so, and others clearly do not wish for any gaze to be turned to them.”
    Eireanne stifled a giggle. “Still others seem confused as to what all the suffering is about.”
    “All right, all right,” Declan said testily. “You’ve had your reading. Now then, shall we return to a happy Christmas?” He nodded at the fiddler, who instantly began to play. Declan took the letter from Keira and put it away in his coat pocket.
    “So, then,” Henry said. “For whom do you think the letter was intended?”
    “Mabe,” Eireanne said instantly. “It seems to me that is something Mr. Canavan would do to create intrigue, and he is clearly smitten with her.”
    “Oh?” Henry asked, offering her his arm. “Rumor has it he is smitten with you.”
    “ Ach, a lot of nonsense, that is,” Eireanne insisted. “Molly and Mabe know my predicament, aye? They don’t want me to feel left out, I think. I have become their personal mission.”
    “You need no help,” Henry said firmly. “I have another theory.”
    “Do you?”
    “Molly or Mabe wrote it.”
    Eireanne laughed.
    He arched his brows. “What do you find so amusing? Do you think them above scandal?”
    “If I did, I should be the only one in all