Dilly Court - The Christmas Rose - The most heart-warming novel of 2018, from the Sunday Times bestseller

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Copyright © Dilly Court 2018

Jacket Photographs: © Gordon Crabb/Alison Eldred (Girl); © Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy (street scene), © Shutterstock.com(all other images)

Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2018

Dilly Court asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008199685

Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008199692

Version: 2018-10-01

For Sam Avant.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

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Rose leaned over the railings, peering into the fog that had crept up on the steamship as it entered the Thames Estuary. It was even thicker when they arrived in Bow Creek, and as the vessel slid gracefully into the dock they were engulfed in a peasouper, making it impossible to distinguish the faces of the individuals waiting to greet the passengers.

‘Is he there, love?’

Rose turned to give the small woman a weary smile. ‘I can’t see very far, Mrs Parker. But I’d know him anywhere, and I can’t spot anyone who looks remotely like him.’

Adele Parker laid her gloved hand on Rose’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure your young man is there somewhere.’

‘Max promised to meet me.’ Rose could not quite keep a note of desperation from her voice. ‘We planned it all so carefully.’

‘Then I’m sure he’ll be here soon. It’ll take a while for the crew to put the gangplank in place and unload the luggage.’ Adele wrapped her shawl more tightly around her plump body. ‘It’s so cold and damp. We’ve been away for five years and I’ve almost forgotten what the English winter is like.’

‘I was only nine when we left for Australia,’ Rose said, sighing. ‘But there’s nothing to keep me in Bendigo now.’

Adele gave her a searching look. ‘How old are you, Rose?’

‘I’m eighteen, ma’am.’

‘I do worry about you, dear. I sympathise with you and your young man, but you do know you can’t marry without your parents’ consent, don’t you?’

‘I’m an orphan. Ma died when I was very young and Pa was killed in a mining accident a year ago. He gave up the sea because he thought he could make more money in a gold mine. It was a bad move.’

‘You didn’t tell me that, you poor dear.’ Adela gave her a hug. ‘You’re a brave girl, Rose. I wish you all the luck in the world.’

‘Thank you.’ Rose returned the embrace. Adele had shown her nothing but kindness during their time at sea, and, despite the difference in their ages, they had become good friends.

‘We’ll be staying with my mother-in-law, who lives in Elder Street, Spitalfields,’ Adele said gently. ‘I forget the number of the house but it has a black door with a lion’s head knocker. Ma-in-law is very proud of that.’

Rose smiled vaguely. ‘That sounds nice.’

‘If you need anything just come and see me.’ Adele craned her neck at the sound of the movement from a lower deck. ‘The gangplank is in place. I must find Mr Parker.’ She started off in the direction of the companionway, but she hesitated, glancing over her shoulder. ‘We’ll be catching the next train from Canning Town. You’re more than welcome to travel with us if your young man doesn’t put in an appearance.’

Rose was acutely conscious of the need to watch the pennies, but she managed a smile. ‘Thank you, but Max will be here. He promised.’ She strained her eyes as she peered into the thick curtain of fog, hoping to catch sight of the man for whom she had given up her home and her adopted family. A feeling of near-panic made her clutch the wet railing until her knuckles turned white. If Max, for whatever reason, could not meet her, she would be in a terrible fix. The possibility had not occurred to her during the voyage from the Australian port of Geelong to London. She had lived in a haze of romantic visions of what her life would be like as the wife of a dashing cavalry officer, but something as simple as a London particular was in danger of shattering her hopes and dreams.