A Winter’s Romance: A Regency Anthology on preorder now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Winters-Romance-Regency-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0DG3R12L1

I am GL Robinson, originally from the UK, but have spent most of my adult life in the USA, having married an American I met in Brussels, where I was working after the UK joined the Common Market (as it was then) in 1973. He always tells the story that he’d been sent over to Europe for six weeks to “help out a guy”. He arrived with one suitcase; he ended up going home five years later with a wife and three children!

My sister and I were educated in a convent boarding school in the south of England, because our parents were in Africa. That sounds crazy now, but it wasn’t unusual at the time. Nearly all the other girls there had parents who worked abroad. Francine and I used to giggle over Georgette Heyer under the covers after lights-out, and when she died unexpectedly in 2018, I woke up with a Regency Romance whole and entire in my head. Having never written anything other than academic papers before that (I was a French Professor), I sat up and wrote that first novel in two weeks. I think now it was my way of grieving, and it gave me such joy I haven’t stopped since. To date, I have 16 Regencies live on Amazon, and one on pre-order. They are all dedicated to my sister.

When I was asked if I would like to join in an Anthology with a short story on the theme of Winter, my thoughts went immediately to Christmas. The confluence of pagan and Christian traditions on our celebration of the holiday has always fascinated me. The early Christians arriving in Britain had the good sense not to try to eliminate deep-rooted pagan beliefs and festivals, but give them what we would now call a “spin”.  The date of Christmas itself was chosen to coincide with the spring equinox, wildly celebrated in the pagan world. It would take too long to go into all the many integrated traditions now, but just one example is the holly and the ivy.

Pagan peoples looked on holly as a masculine plant, its red berries a symbol of fertility in the depths of winter. The clinging ivy was considered a female plant, its leaves are smooth and silky, and it likes to grow of things that sustain it. It also propagates fast.  They were both adopted into the Christian tradition, as we know from the great old carol, The Holly and the Ivy. I mention that because both the carol and the tradition turn up in my story in the Anthology.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: An Excerpt:

Once the supper dishes were cleared away, Mr. Wilberforce returned to his seat, and his daughter announced she was going to bring in the holly and ivy to decorate the hearth.

“Let me help you,” offered their guest.  He was more and more fascinated by this woman who talked London politics one minute and washed dishes the next.

“Oh, the holly is frightfully fierce this year,” she said, “It pulled my shawl all to bits when I approached it. I should hate for your fine clothes to be damaged. Or for your lovely boots to be scratched.”

Mr. Fortescue, to whom an injured coat meant no more than a trip to his tailor to order a new one, and whose boots were as a rule tenderly polished every day by his valet, using a mixture of champagne and wax, laughed this off. “It’s the least I can do,” he said, “to repay your hospitality.”

“I’m a-comin’ too,” pronounced Wilf, who had decided Miss Wilberforce was a bang-up mort for whom he was more than willing to receive a scratch or two.

Elizabeth took an ancient handsaw from the dark recesses of the kitchen, the three of them donned their coats, hats, and gloves and went out behind the cottage. Neat furrows of an extensive vegetable garden could be seen, the ice on them glistening in the moonlight. “Brr! It’s so cold,” said Elisabeth. “I should have done this earlier, but I got caught up with baking the mince pies, then you arrived and…”

“All the more reason for us to help,” replied Mr. Fortescue, taking the saw from her hands and attacking the holly with it.  “Ouch, you brute! And through my gloves, too! But I shall prevail. Which branches do you want, Miss Wilberforce?”

“How lucky you’re so tall!” she said. “The branches with the best berries are always above my head. Look! Those there.”

In a few minutes, three or four branches with good loads of bright berries lay on the sacking Elisabeth had brought out for the purpose.

They then pulled strips of ivy from the side of the henhouse, causing a few disgruntled shufflings inside. Wilf carried the ivy cuttings into the kitchen, while his master wrapped up the holly in the sacking and did the same.

“What I usually do is make small loops of string on the holly to hang it on the mantle,” said Miss Wilberforce. “There are hooks on it from years ago. Then I festoon it with the ivy. But the holly fights you all the way. No wonder it’s always been considered the male plant. Did you know that? The smooth ivy leaves represent the female.”

“That seems a little unfair,” protested Mr. Fortescue. “I’ve known a number of women with very sharp tongues.”

“Of course! But we women mostly hide our sharpness. Men are much more direct. Ivy climbs up things using tiny little claws you don’t even notice. But holly, once you get past the thorns, is defenseless.” She laughed.

It turned out that Wilf, with his small, strong hands, was especially adept at making the string loops on the holly, so it wasn’t long before the shiny green leaves and red berries adorned the mantle. The ivy was then festooned over and under it. They all stood back, admiring their handiwork.

“Now we drink a cup of the mulled cider to toast the holly and the ivy,” said Elisabeth. “It’s supposed to ensure fertility, though that’s unnecessary in this house.”

“I don’t know, daughter,” said her father, speaking up suddenly. “Mr. Pounds has been showing you a marked attention these past months.”

“Who’s Mr. Pounds?” asked Mr. Fortescue, before he could stop himself.

I hope you enjoy the Anthology as much as I did. It was such a pleasure to read everyone’s story. All so different, and all just great!

Please check out my website if you want to know more about me, get a free short story, a link to a free Regency novel (the first one I wrote!) and a token for a free download of an audiobook: https://romancenovelsbyglrobinson.com