When Dorcas and Emma each want to give Laura the same gift for Christmas, an old family wound is opened up and Laura finds herself torn between two mothers. As the inhabitants of Lark Rise and Candleford prepare for the festivities, loyalties are tested and, amid the gift-giving and carol-singing, tensions are building. However, the arrival of a ragged, barefooted young woman, who goes by the name of Cinderella Doe, introduces a note of Christmas mystery. Dorcas also receives a Christmas letter from Sir Timothy.
When a romantic getaway to Paris takes a dark turn with the sudden disappearance of her boyfriend Tom aboard a train to the south of France, Alice is plunged into a web of intrigue and danger, uncovering shocking secrets about the man she thought she knew
