In a small New England village, Christmas can be measured in curtains and lace, in who has a tree and who doesn’t, in who seems to live just one notch above everyone else. And Marg’ret Poole has always felt that notch.

She is raising three bright, restless children on almost nothing — sewing, scraping, stretching every little thing — while across the road her neighbor displays beauty like a banner. A tree. Ribboned lace. Comfort. Admiration. And the more Marg’ret pretends not to look, the more she does.

One evening, too-tired hope gives way to something sharper — and Marg’ret makes a choice she has never made in her life. It is not wickedness, not even temptation. It is hunger for joy, for the children, just once.

But Christmas has a habit of revealing secrets — and sometimes the hardest part of grace is believing we deserve any.

This is a story of pride, poverty, and a gift that was never stolen at all.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930) wrote about the quiet negotiations of dignity — how people survive each other, and themselves. Her New England women are stubborn, tender, fierce, ashamed, proud, and astonishingly real. She does not offer sentiment; she offers recognition. And in this story, she offers mercy.

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