Light in Winter

Isabel Whitney marries Felix Sterling on the winter solstice, in a hurry. Felix is the second son of the Sterling family and he is disabled. The first thing he says to her on their wedding night is that he plans to die within the year. Isabel treats that as settled and decides to spend the year enjoying herself, and she figures she may as well have a pretty child by him while she is at it. She tells him: "If you don't want to live, spend one night with me. Let's have a baby first." They live together after that and the days are warm and sweet. Felix had been living in a grey house with nothing much in it, and Isabel fills the days up. He starts wanting her there, and she finds she wants the same.