Three years after being widowed, Therese, Lady Osbaldestone finally settles into her dower property of Hartington Manor in the village of Little Moseley. However, she questions whether life in a small village will generate sufficient interest to keep her amused during those months when she is not in London or visiting friends. But she will see. It's December, 1810, and Therese is looking forward to her usual Christmas with her large brood at her youngest daughter Celia's home. But then a carriage rolls up and disgorges Celia's three oldest children. Their father has mumps, and their mother has sent Jamie, George, and Lottie to spend Christmas with their grandmama in Little Moseley. Therese has never had to manage small children, not even her own. She assumes the children will keep themselves amused, but quickly learns that what amuses three inquisitive, curious, and confident youngsters isn't compatible with village peace. Just when it seems she'll have to invent some game herself, she and the children learn that with only twelve days to go before Christmas, the village's flock of geese has vanished. Every household in the village is now missing the centerpiece of their Christmas feast. but how could an entire flock go missing without the slightest trace? The children are as mystified and curious as Therese, and she seizes on the mystery as the perfect distraction for the children as well as herself. But while searching for the geese, she and her three helpers stumble on two locals who, it is clear, are in dire need of assistance in sorting out their lives. Never one to shy from a little matchmaking, Therese undertakes to guide Miss Eugenia Fitzgibbon into the arms of the determinedly reclusive Lord Longfellow. To Therese's considerable surprise, she discovers that her grandchildren have inherited skills and talents from her late husband as well as herself. And with all the customary village events held in the lead up to Christmas, she and her three helpers have opportunities galore to subtly nudge and steer. Yet while their matchmaking appears to be succeeding, neither they not anyone else have found so much as a feather from the village's geese. Larceny is ruled out; a flock of that size couldn't have been taken without someone noticing. So where can the birds be? And with the day passing and Christmas inexorably approaching, will they find the blasted birds in time?