In contrast to the celebrations and worries of the family at Chanter’s House, Christmas on the continent was a desperately lonely affair. Despite the lack of appeal that Wanderford Hall held for Fotherby, when Christmas arrived, unannounced and unmarked, in Flanders he felt a pang for the simple celebrations of home. Although Wanderford Hall was never decked for Christmas, and while the fast of Advent was strictly adhered to, it made the feast of Christmas only more exciting. Fotherby’s father had heard the preacher John Wesley on many occasions throughout his youth and it was to this man’s words that Fotherby owed his own religiously regimented upbringing. His uncle, of course, would heed none of this puritanical approach and, when he had arrived at Wanderford Hall when Fotherby had been only ten years old...

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