The Holly and the Ivy

A Merry Mary

Mary Rivers's elderly Gran has predicted a wonderful London Christmas -- and a wonder is what it will take to soothe Mary's heart, lonely for her country relatives. So when their neighbor, the dashing, though usually prickly, Lord Balfour is increasingly solicitous, Gran suspects that his attention to Mary is more than merely neighborly.

Neglected as a child, Lord Balfour made friends with loneliness long ago. The holidays only increase his gloom. And now there are his neighbors to contend with -- notably Mary Rivers and her irrepressible, and admittedly dazzling, smile. Usually such cheer would annoy him. Why then does he find himself searching for that smile -- and for her company, at every opportunity? Perhaps a country girl and a titled gentleman have more in common than first meets the eye. If the two can weather a scandalous misunderstanding and a chaotic Christmas Eve ball, they just may find out.