A Sprig of Mistletoe

Christmas is Lady Catherine “Kitty” Egerton’s favorite time of year, and even though the temperature is mild and there’s little hope for snow, life couldn’t be better. Charles Dickens’s new novel is proving to be all the rage. Even more diverting, she’s accepted her brother’s invitation to travel to London with a childhood friend on the London and Birmingham Railway, to inspect a workhouse on Saffron Hill. The journey allows Kitty to help the poor, and to access the bookstore where Dickens’s latest book is sold. But in an irony of fate, the book is out of stock, and she shamefully accepts several copies from a mysterious donor, risking her reputation.

Bartholomew “Bart” Fernsby netted his worth speculating on the railroad. But to whom much is given, more is required. Haunted by a scandalous past and determined not to let history repeat itself, Bart takes on the plight of the East End by becoming one of the founding members of a Poor Law Union seeking to bring education to the poorest sections of London. To that end, he’s enlisted a friend to help raise funds for Field Lane Ragged School, a workhouse Charles Dickens visited three months earlier. The children housed there idolize the writer, and as a gift to them, Bart purchases multiple copies of A Christmas Carol with plans to distribute them to those who’ve learned how to read. There’s only one problem—Bart hates Christmas. Can a sprig of mistletoe deliver a miracle?