The Mistletoe Run

By Jenna Jaxon

The first thing anyone who is researching Regency period Christmas celebrations discovers is that while the good people of the Regency celebrated Christmas, they did so much more quietly than did their descendants. Most of our Christmas traditions come from the merry making that became the bedrock of the Victorian era, popularized by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. So having determined that I wanted my Christmas novella set in the Regency, I scoured books, articles, and the internet for pastimes and tradition that the Regency folk would have known and enjoyed.

The first thing I found was that Christmas trees, while popular in Germany, didn’t catch on in England until (you guessed it) the Victorian era. But I really wanted to have a Christmas tree at the house party for decorating purposes, so the family suddenly had a German connection. And of course the house party had to go out to chop the tree down and gather greenery and mistletoe.

Hmmm, mistletoe. Such a good opportunity, ladies and gentlemen out in the woods together with mistletoe growing on trees high in the air. Now, can’t I do something with this to help ratchet up some tension?  I frantically search for some kind of game that might have been played outdoors in the winter, but nothing appears in either England or Germany.

Drat! And then THE IDEA dawns: since I’m writing fiction, I’ll make up a game that’s played beneath the mistletoe. Thus “running the mistletoe” is born. Here’s the description of it from A Kiss Beneath the Mistletoe: 

“Marbury’s family has continued this tradition, although it’s changed a bit from that original run. Now the participants line up and the young men dare the ladies to run underneath the mistletoe. They give them a five count start and if they can catch them by the time they reach the mistletoe ball, they can claim a kiss.” Her aunt grinned and whispered, “That’s how I met Marbury.”

This games makes for a fun and exciting interlude in the book and brings the heroine and hero closer together, although they do not run the mistletoe together. I was very happy with my invention, however, I did tell my critique partner (who knows the Regency period extremely well) that I had made up something in the novella. Sure enough, when she sent me her critique she wrote that she’d never heard of running the mistletoe and couldn’t find mention of it anywhere, so she had emailed a friend of hers who was German asking about it.

I shook my head and immediately told her that the game was the part I had fabricated.  Unfortunately, the problem then became that kissing under the mistletoe is an English custom probably brought down from the Norse. It wouldn’t have been a custom in Germany.

*Heavy sigh*  Fortunately, plotting is my favorite part of writing a book, so I came up with a particular reason for the game’s invention, as Lady Marbury also tells the heroine:

“an earlier Viscount Marbury arrived [in Germany] with letters of introduction from England. According to family history, he was out in the woods with a large party, searching for a Christmas tree to cut down. He spied some mistletoe high in a tree, directly above a pretty young lady of the family. He gave a great shout and began to chase her. She screamed and ran, but he caught her underneath the mistletoe and kissed her hand.”

Problem solved with everyone happy, including the characters who got to run the mistletoe.

A rather interesting post script to this story is that I heard again from my crit partner who told me her German friend wrote back and said yes, she had heard of running the mistletoe and that mistletoe stood for eternal love. So I apparently invented a game that already existed, although no one’s been able to find it referenced anywhere. Well, there’s nothing new under the sun, so they say. I’m just happy that my little game worked in my novella and who knows, maybe it will catch on again this Christmas!

On sale for 99¢!

Jenna is giving away one copy of A Kiss Beneath the Mistletoe.

To enter, just tell her you want it in the comments section. 

Jenny Crowley has been duped! At her eighteenth birthday celebration her parents announce that instead of having the London Season she’s dreamed of for years, Jenny has been betrothed from birth to Alexander Isley, son of family friends and heir to a title. A distraught Jenny refuses point-blank to marry Alec, and when her aunt offers to whisk her away to a Christmas house party, complete with many eligible young bachelors, Jenny jumps at the chance to enjoy a variety of entertainments, be courted, and perhaps fall in love.

Alec Isley is between a rock and a hard place. He desires a marriage with Jenny no more than she does, but when his family’s dire financial status is revealed, he follows Jenny to the house party in hopes of convincing her to marry him after all. When he discovers who else is courting her there, Alec is frantic to keep her from making a dreadful mistake. Struggling with new-found feelings for his childhood friend, can Alec convince her of his love in time to save her from being ruined under the mistletoe?

 

Excerpt

Dishes of trifle finally sat at each place. Jenny itched to pick up her spoon. She could taste the berries and cream even now. She glanced at her father, who at last smiled and nodded.

“So, Charles, when is the wedding to take place?” Great-Aunt Henrietta trumpeted the question from her place at the mid-point of the table, her spoon already busy with her dessert.

“Wedding, Aunt Henrietta?”  Papa’s voice rose in a question, but he cut his eyes toward Mamma, who sent a frightened look at Jenny. 

Odd, but no more so than her great-aunt’s question.  Whose wedding was she talking about?

“Yes, Charles.  Jenny’s wedding to young Alexander here.”  Henrietta nodded across the table to Alexander Isley, who sat up abruptly, staring at her aunt with wide eyes, as though he thought the old lady quite mad. 

Jenny thought so herself.  A prickly sensation began at the back of her neck. She shot Alec a quick look. No, his face wore an expression of outright confusion, his brows knit over his dark brown eyes.

“She’s eighteen now, and you promised me when she was of age I’d see her married into the Isley family.  I have lived for the day that I could announce to the world that one of my family had moved into the titled class.”  She glared at Mama, who blushed and turned to Jenny.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, Jenny darling,” Mama said, patting her hand.

That might have reassured Jenny, except her mother’s wide, staring eyes said yes, it was that bad. Maybe worse. Her heart began to pound and the sweet trifle turned sour in her mouth.

 “Not bad?” Great-Aunt Henrietta swung her gaze to Jenny and fixed her with a cold blue-eyed stare. “You should be grateful, girl. Your parents and I have arranged for you to take your place in society, as a titled lady in due time.”

“It’s not true is it, Mama?”  Jenny could barely choke out the words in a voice that didn’t sound like her own at all. Too high, too soft. A peculiar roaring in her ears made her head light.

“Yes, my dear, it most certainly is.”  Great-Aunt Henrietta nodded with such vehemence that the feathers on her green velvet turban bobbed back and forth.  “When your mother refused to marry up, I swore none of your family would ever see a penny of my money.  Then when you were born, she came to me, begged me to reconsider, and promised that you had already been betrothed to the Isley heir here.” She pointed a finger at Alec who looked like he might dive under the table.  “She showed me the betrothal papers.”

Everyone at table sat in stunned silence.  Jenny looked down at her hands, clasped together so tightly her knuckles showed white.  All her dreams of excitement and romance during her season had just exploded in the blink of an eye.  Then the real import of her great-aunt’s word sank in and her stomach twisted. They expected her to marry Alec?

A Kiss Beneath the Mistletoe is available at:

Amazon: : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0193TFJ22?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/599034

iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1067520718

B&N:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-kiss-beneath-the-mistletoe-jenna-jaxon/1123129910?ean=2940152758917

 Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/a-kiss-beneath-the-mistletoe

 

About Jenna

 

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical and contemporary romance.  She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager.  A romantic herself, she has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise.  She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets.  When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director.  She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage.

Jenna is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as President of Chesapeake Romance Writers, her local chapter of RWA.

She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.

 

Find Jenna Jaxon online:

BLOG:  https://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Jenna_Jaxon

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