Wish List

Puddings, Pastries, and Thou

...from the anthology "Wish List"

It's Christmas, and Vivian Ambrose has once again been passed off from one relation to the other. Orphaned long ago, and with no fortune, she has had to rely on the charity of cousins for her meat and bread, when what she dreams of is puddings and pastries, and a home, husband, and children of her own.

Richard Brent has all but given up hope that a decent, loving woman will have him. He has enough stains upon his public character that he is barely tolerated in genteel homes, and then only because he comes from a good family. When he meets Vivian, his last flickers of hope are stirred to life, for she is the one woman he has met whose hungers may tempt her to take his bait .