“So now my sister’s not good enough for you?” Ash scowled at him. “Getting a bit high in the instep, aren’t we Lord Thornton?”
Theo inhaled deeply of the crisp morning air, and turned to his friend. This had to stop.
“For goodness’ sake, Ash, stop being such a bear. If this is what you’re like in the mornings, remind me never to call on you until well after noon. I was merely asking a few preliminary questions. That is all.”
Ash let out a peevish snort but, thankfully, didn’t press Theo any more on the matter. They rode in silence for a time, until the crossing to Knavesmire Wood came in sight. There, waiting as promised, was the cartman who’d helped transport the last two trees up to Dovington Hall.
Their party turned into the wood, Theo leading the way and the cartman bringing up the rear. It was only a short distance along the road to reach the stand of fir trees where Theo had gained permission to harvest one evergreen per season.
He pulled his mount to a halt and nodded at the dark green cluster of trees. “That one in front is a likely specimen. Ash, care to help me decide?”
His friend sighed, but swung off his mount and joined Theo in pushing through the brown stalks of bracken fern.
The first tree, as it turned out, was full in the front but thin on the sides and back. Theo rejected it, and two more, before deciding on his prize. Ash’s stalwart footman left their mounts with the cartman and set to work sawing down the evergreen.
“Seems a bit sacrificial, don’t you think?” Ash asked.
“No worse than harvesting a Yule log, or the mountains of greenery I saw the servants bringing in to Hartley House. And once the season’s over, it will make any number of fine fires to help heat Dovington Hall.”
“And what do you put on it, again?”
“Bags of sweets—in fact, Viola asked me to bring a few more up from London. Garlands of ribbons, toys, and this year, balls made of mercury glass. And candles, of course, in clip-on tin holders.”
“It sounds festive, certainly. And flammable.”
“That’s why we keep an extra bucket of water handy.” Theo grinned at his friend, then glanced at the footmen, who had removed their coats, their faces shiny with exertion. “Shall we spell your men?”
“It’s a damnably early hour for exertion,” Ash said. Nonetheless, he rolled up his shirtsleeves and went to take one end of the saw.
The smell of fresh sap freshened the air as Theo and Ash bent to their work. They managed to finish cutting a little over halfway before Theo swiped at his forehead and suggested the footmen resume.
“I thought your men sharpened the saw,” he said to Ash, half in jest.
“If you hadn’t picked such a ridiculously large tree, we’d be done by now.” Ash turned his back on the tree and shook his head. “That behemoth seems far too big for Dovington. In fact, I doubt it would even fit in Hartley House’s great hall?—"
“Look out!” one of the footmen yelled.
Theo watched in horror as the huge tree began to topple, slowly but inexorably, right where Ash was standing. Without even thinking, Theo dashed forward and pushed his friend out of the way. There was a crack that sounded as loud as a rifle, and then the ground seemed to shake as the tree thudded down.
It bounced to the side, the trunk landing on Theo’s ankle with a white-hot pain, the branches smothering him as the needles stabbed through his shirt and trousers.
“Theo!” Ash cried. “Get that tree off him, men. Now.”
The footmen grunted and thrashed, and a moment later they levered the evergreen off Theo.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice coming out more weakly than he’d intended.
“Good gad,” Ash said, bending over him. “The tree you killed nearly murdered you in turn. We should burn it where it lies. Jones”—he gestured to one of the footmen—“ ride to the village and fetch the doctor. Tell him to come to Hartley House.”
“That’s not necessary,” Theo said. “I’m a bit dazed, is all.”
“Can you stand?”
“Certainly.” Clenching his jaw, Theo sat, then attempted to get to his feet.
The instant he put weight on his right foot, agony washed over him in a wave, and he collapsed back into the crushed foliage.
“Thorn, face facts,” Ash said. “You’re hurt. I refuse to repay you for saving my life by letting you act like a fool. We can transport you back to Hartley in the cart.”
