“Tell him to bring it in here to dry,” Thornhill said.
She went to open the front door and call Jason in. He set the log on its end near the fire. “Should be fine in a few hours.”
He paused to look around the room, at the greenery and berries and candles. His gaze settled on the mistletoe bough for a long moment.
“Stay and get warm,” Thornhill said. “I’ll see if there is some hot coffee below.”
A little confused, Jason took position in front of the fire and pulled off his work gloves. Thornhill left and shortly returned. “It will be up soon.”
“I’ll get some later. I still need to get the wagon and hay going, what with the snow again.”
“No, no, stay. You should take a few minutes on this day.”
Jason shrugged and turned back to the fire.
Five minutes later, Amelia arrived with a tray. She stopped right inside the door. “Has the king called on us? If not, I don’t see why I am carrying refreshments up those stairs.”
“Stay there. I will take it,” Thornhill said. Yet he did not move.
Over at the fire, Jason watched Amelia.
Caroline watched them all.
Jason looked above Amelia’s head. With an expression of resolve, he made the few strides that brought him under the bough, too. He took the tray and set it down on a table. Then he did not steal a kiss. Instead he took Amelia’s face in his hands and kissed her fully.
Caroline could not ignore the kind of kiss it was. Shocked, she took a step forward to stop him. A hand on her shoulder pulled her back.
She looked up at Thornhill.
Jason picked up the tray again. “I think I’ll drink this in the morning room. Why don’t you sit and have some, too, Amelia? You have been working as hard as I have.”
Wide-eyed and perplexed by that kiss, Amelia followed him out of the room.
Thornhill smiled.
“Are you matchmaking?” Caroline asked.
“I appear to have a talent for it.”
“Jason?”
“He is clearly in love with her. He probably has been for years. I am surprised you did not see it.”
“She will never marry a servant.”
“He is not a common servant here. She knows his interest now. She has already begun reconsidering him, and how she views him. That will take some time, but—Who knows what she will do?”
Caroline stretched up and kissed him. “I will pray that the love she already has for him becomes that kind of love. It would be a wonderful conclusion of her misadventure. Is this a Christmas gift to me?”
“I thought of it as a gift to Jason and Amelia.”
“The mere chance of this match lightens my heart, so it is my gift, too. Thank you, for this and everything else you have done for me.”
* * *
“I think that went well, don’t you?” Caroline asked. Her question broke the silence that fell after an energetic passion left her screaming into the night on her release. Adam hoped no one went running to her chamber to see what accident had overtaken her.
He doubted she knew she had done that. Nor did he think that she now congratulated them both on the artful sensuality of the last half hour.
