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.