Page 55 of The Dare Before Christmas

“Oh.” Victoria blushed, making him laugh again.

“Don’t fret, Torie. Once they hear we’re engaged, it will all be smoothed over. A Christmas wedding might be nice, don’t you think?”

“I think it would be perfect, Barnaby,” Torie replied, so happy she was on the verge of tears.

“It would, and how about finding that treasure, too? I’d love to see everyone’s faces when you go back to the house, having solved the mystery.”

“It doesn’t seem so important now,” she admitted. “Not when I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We’ve come this far, though.”

“We have,” Barnaby said, reaching over and picking up the spoon. “Go on, one last jar.”

Torie beamed at him and took the spoon, scrambling off him to reach for the heavy earthenware pot.

“Here I go,” she said, carefully peeling off the wax seal. “Wish me luck.”

Barnaby grinned, leaning in to kiss her. “You don’t need luck, you’re marvellous.”

Torie blushed and bit her lip, too overwhelmed to know what to say. So, she turned her attention back to the pot, and dug the spoon into the thick, rubbery jam. It struck something hard. She gasped, staring at Barnaby with wide eyes. “There’s something in here!”

“Good heavens! You did it,” Barnaby said, laughing as Torie began carefully spooning out the contents.

“Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “Oh, my, Barnaby, just look.”

With shaking fingers, she put her fingers in the sticky mess to grasp a thick gold chain and pulled. Out came a necklace, covered in ancient jam, but glinting as bright as the day Mrs Payne’s daughters had sealed it up.

“Bloody hell!” Barnaby said, his eyes almost on stalks and his expression so stunned Victoria could only give a hysterical hiccough of laughter.

She couldn’t blame him, though. At the end of the chain was an enormous ruby, the biggest she had ever seen, surrounded by diamonds and set in gold.

“The heart of Heart’s Folly,” Victoria said, shaking and laughing and crying all at once.

“What a little beauty,” Barnaby said in wonder.

“It is a beauty,” Victoria agreed, carefully wiping the jam from the magnificent jewel.

“I wasn’t talking about the ruby, love,” Barnaby said gently.

Victoria paused, looking up and smiling. “I love you, Barnaby.”

Barnaby grinned at her. “Well, I should dashed well think so! Bit much after all this if you turned round and changed your mind.”

“I never shall,” Victoria said solemnly. “Never, never, not ever.”

“Well, that’s all right, then. Shall we go back and show them what we’ve found?”

Victoria nodded. “Can we tell them we’re engaged?”

“If you don’t, I shall,” he said, looking so pleased with himself she could not help but kiss him again.

One kiss inevitably led to another, and so it was sometime later that they emerged, dirty, sticky and exceedingly happy, to discover all the guests gathering on the steps of Heart’s Folly. Everyone was warmly dressed in cloaks and scarves, for the snow was falling again.

“They look like they’re ready for a treasure hunt,” Barnaby whispered, taking her hand in his.

Victoria snorted. “Too late,” she said, knowing she looked horribly smug and not caring a jot.

“What the devil happened to you?” Jules demanded, staring at his sister with revulsion. “You look… ugh, what is that black stuff all over you?”

“Jam,” Torie said happily.