Read The Christmas Eve Letter: A Time Travel Novel for Free Online

eyes. 
    Eve scrolled down and read the biography of the Harringshaw family. 
    The Harringshaw family is an American family of British origin that was prominent during the Gilded Age.  Their success began with the shipping, steel and railroad empires of John Allister Harringshaw I.  The family extended their vast fortune into various other areas of industry and philanthropy.  John Allister Harringshaw I built a grand mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and luxurious “summer cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island.
    Eve searched the link for John Allister Harringshaw II, and found it at the bottom of the page.  She took a sharp intake of breath and clicked on the link.  The page refreshed and a black and white photograph of John Allister Harringshaw II looked back at her.
    Eve made a little sound of surprise.  He looked so alive—so real, staring back at her.  The room suddenly fell into a deepening silence, and the quality of light changed as the candles flickered.  Eve raised her eyes from the screen and glanced about, as if feeling the presence of someone else in the room.  A cool draft made her shiver and she wished the radiator heat would come rattling on.  It was cold outside and going down to 42 degrees, or so the weather people had said. 
    She returned her attention to the laptop and the photograph of John Allister Harringshaw II, enlarging the photo, narrowing her eyes on it, and becoming completely absorbed by it.  John Allister Harringshaw II looked back at her with piercing dark eyes and the clean chiseled features and fine sharp nose of an aristocrat.  He wore a top hat and tails and appeared to be about 30 years old, maybe older.  He was tall, straight and handsome, remarkably handsome, with a natural authority and a stern dignity. 
    Eve could not picture this man writing the letter that lay on the side table next to her.  This man seemed cool, aloof and worldly, perhaps fiercely practical and well-schooled in the art of wealth and privilege.  As handsome as John was, Eve was not overly impressed by him.  The more she stared into those eyes, the more she felt he was a dark, cold and brooding man.  He probably frightened his servants, his clients and any subordinates who worked for him. 
    Then it struck her.  Was this photograph taken after John had written the letter to Evelyn or before?  Eve examined the photo caption more closely to see when the photo had been taken.  The date was written in small type.  December 1885!
    Eve swallowed and read his brief biography. 
    John Allister Harringshaw II was born in New York City in 1854, the second son of John Allister Harringshaw I and Alice Mayfair Gibson.  He attended the St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire and Harvard University.  For a time, he managed the family estate and became active in real estate development, building several notable New York City hotels, including The Continental Hotel and The Hotel Dickenson.
    He was engaged to socialite Elizabeth Ashley Loring, but they never married, and it was speculated that some scandal or the potential for such was the reason, although it never appeared in the press of the day.  It has, however, surfaced in two of eight biographies written about the Harringshaw family.
    John vanished from business and society for a time (most biographers claim he moved to southern France) while his brother, Albert Wilson Harringshaw, assumed the responsibilities of managing the estate. 
    John reappeared after his brother’s death in 1915 and once again took over managing his family’s estate, but he seldom appeared in society and he never married.  When he died in 1921 at age 67, his net worth was US $95 million (equivalent to over US $2 billion by today’s standards).
    The Harringshaw family’s prominence lasted until the mid-20th century, when the family’s great Fifth Avenue mansion was sold and turned into The Collermore Art Museum.
    Eve studied a photo of the Harringshaw mansion