Soon the group trudged through the woods, spirits high, with saws and clippers in hand.
“Which way shall we go?” Thomas looked at Frances with a brow raised.
“Oh.” She seemed surprised that he’d asked her opinion. Still, she studied the area and pointed just to the left. “That looks to be a likely spot, don’t you think?”
“It does.” Arm-in-arm, they led the way in that direction with Lady Eliza and her fiancé, the Duke of Trentworth, as well as Lady Tabitha and Captain Shaw accompanying them.
“What is the book for this month?” Thomas asked Frances.
She grinned. “A Christmas Carol, of course. I hope you have a chance to read it while you’re home.”
“I should’ve guessed. Perhaps my father will allow me to borrow his after he opens it.”
“Wouldn’t it be poor form to take the book after you just presented him with it?” Trentworth asked with teasing light in his eyes.
“I’m his favorite son, so he won’t mind,” Thomas proclaimed, and everyone laughed.
“Are you?” Frances asked as they continued walking.
Thomas shook his head, a smile still in place. “No. My father is careful not to show favoritism between my brother and me. But I enjoy teasing my brother that I’m the favorite even if he is the heir.” In truth, that had been one of the ways he’d coped with always feeling as if he stood in his brother’s shadow.
Trentworth laughed again. “That would’ve driven my brother crazed as well.” He sobered, reminding Thomas that he’d lost his brother a year ago. “I wish I would’ve thought to do it.”
Lady Eliza squeezed his arm. “I have no doubt he’s looking down upon you at this very moment and laughing but is pleased you didn’t.”
The duke smiled. The intimate way he looked at Lady Eliza, which showed how much he loved and appreciated her, made Thomas feel as if he should turn his head to allow them some privacy.
Thomas glanced at Frances to see if she felt the same way, touched by the tenderness on her face as she watched the couple.
Did she long for connection with another? He hoped so. But even more, he hoped she’d find it with him.
“To your right,” Frances directed Thomas as he stretched from his precarious position on a limb. “A little farther.”
“I do believe you wish to see me take a tumble.” Yet the teasing tone of Thomas’s voice as he did what she asked belied his words.
“Please do not,” she called up to him. “I don’t know how I’d carry you to the wagon.” Shocked that she’d said such a thing, Frances placed a hand over her mouth in surprise.
What was there about Thomas that put her at such ease that she could joke with him in this manner? He made her feel so comfortable. As if she were an intelligent person capable of sharing opinions and thoughts without fear. The feeling was addictive.
Thomas laughed as he began to saw a smaller bough from the tree. “Look out below,” he called then tossed the greenery at her feet.
“Excellent work.” She picked up the bough and carried it to the pile quickly forming nearby. A servant would soon come to collect the entire lot and haul it to the wagon.
“What’s next?” He glanced around. “What of this one?” He tapped the saw on a nearby bough.
“Perfect.” Much like the other couples nearby, they were only taking a few from each tree so as not to damage any of them. “Next, we need to find some holly.”
Thomas cut the bough then climbed down the tree and brushed off his coat. “Where shall we look?”
“I believe I saw it just over there.” Frances pointed to a place deeper in the trees where she was certain she’d noted some earlier.
Thomas offered his arm, and she took it, a bubble of happiness filling her.
The day had been perfect thus far. The weather, while cold and cloudy, had held. Spending the day with friends had been wonderful, allowing her to come to know them better.
But being with Thomas was the crown jewel of it all.
Her only worry was how quickly she was falling for him. His dark hair curled over his forehead, making her long to smooth it. The sapphire blue of his eyes seemed to sparkle even brighter in the cold. The hint of a bump on the bridge of his nose, something he blamed on his brother, kept his visage from perfection, which only made him more perfect in her eyes.
