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Mr. Newton stood back several paces, shaking his head. “You are proving most capable, Miss Sterling. I shall help with the larger boughs.”

If Felix wasn’t mistaken, the man seemed pleased to have been relieved of her constant company. Up ahead, the Laurences circled back, as if they had only just realized the rest of their group had stopped in the gardens.

Miss Sterling finished clipping the flowers before moving on to the viburnum branches and their colorful berries. Felix followed her, pulling a few of the branches forward as she cut them. They worked in silence for several seconds before Miss Sterling finally spoke in a low, dangerous voice. “I know what you’re doing.”

Felix’s mouth quirked upward. “What exactly is that?”

“Flirting with me to drive Mr. Newton away.” She closed the shears hard on a particularly thick branch. A snap cut through the air.

Felix leaned closer. “Perhaps I’m flirting with you for other reasons.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So you do admit that you’re flirting.”

He paused. “Yes. It’s one of my specialties. Second to cloud reading, of course.”

“Naturally. You were correct about the weather today.” She snatched up a branch that had fallen to the ground. “Tom was right to trust you.”

Felix took the cut branches from her grasp. “I’m certain he heard about my abilities from a reliable source.”

Miss Sterling turned her attention back to the bush, her movements casual. “It was very kind of you to give up your seat this morning. I should hate for Miss Benson to hear about your vengeful nature.”

Felix laughed under his breath. “My vengeful nature? It’s you who is holding a grudge against me.”

“I’m not holding anything.” She shoved the remaining branches and the shears flat against his chest. He barely managed to grip them against his body before they could fall to the ground. Without another word, she whirled around, her hips swaying as she marched quickly toward Mr. Newton.

Felix held back a laugh of disbelief, staring after her for a few seconds before falling into step behind her. His legs were much longer, so he caught up quickly.

“Let us take to the woods before the others snatch up all the good greenery,” Miss Sterling said as she reached Mr. Newton.

The man still didn’t offer her his arm, but he did follow her as she set off beside the Laurences. Felix sidled up to Miss Sterling’s left, offering his own. She couldn’t very well refuse the gesture in front of her cousin.

Felix caught the encouraging look Mrs. Laurence gave her, and then Miss Sterling finally took his arm.

Leah watched helplessly as Mr. Newton led the way through the trees. He was completely out of reach now, and the worst part was that he seemed quite happy about it.

He was not the only happy person in their bunch.

She glared up at Mr. Hawthorne, whose smirking lips were impossible to hide. If she hadn’t been so shocked by his flirting, she might have thought to push him away. In the moment, though, she had been distracted. Even now, as she held his arm, his closeness was unsettling, stirring up warmth deep in her chest. It wasn’t fear or discomfort, but a physical desire for his closeness that she certainly should not have been feeling.

She looked up at his grinning lips again. She had to admire his cleverness. Feigning interest in her would surely drive Mr. Newton away for good, and she should have expected Mr. Hawthorne’s retaliation after her actions against him that morning.

But what could she do? She was trapped with him until their excursion was over. Katherine had already been sneaking peeks at her with encouraging smiles. She likely thought Mr. Hawthorne to be a suitable prospect.

They combed through the woods, filling their baskets with pine boughs, holly, laurel, and mistletoe. Mr. Hawthorne remained pinned to Leah’s side, touching her back or waist at every opportunity, offering his hand as they passed over logs or uneven ground, and being ridiculously attentive. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

Tom asked him a question about clouds, and Leah took the opportunity to sneak past a thicket and move deeper into the woods alone. She heard the distant voices of some of the other guests, shouting and laughing as they gathered their own greenery.

Marching through the clearing, she took her pair of shears toward a tall tree, the bare branches covered in a few large masses of mistletoe. The pearly white berries and green leaves were all clumped together, too high for her to reach on her own.

She assessed the tree with one hand planted on her hip. Katherine might scold her later for wandering away from the group, but she couldn’t give Mr. Hawthorne the satisfaction of offering his aggressive assistance to her a moment longer.

A twig snapped behind her and she turned.

“What are you doing?” Mr. Hawthorne asked, kicking aside a bramble that had tangled around his boot.

Leah sighed. “Running away from you. I know Mr. Newton is not interested in me. You can stop with your games now.” She faced the tree again, considering what might be the best method of reaching the mistletoe.

He strode up beside her. “What games?”