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Mr. Markham looked far too confident, a smug grin on his lips. “I accept your challenge, Miss Sterling.” He dropped to his knees in the snow, scooping up a few handfuls of powder to begin shaping his sculpture.

Felix lowered himself to the ground as well but paused to look up at Miss Sterling. Her eyes twinkled, and her cousin looked equally amused. Felix buried his grin as he focused on the task at hand. He packed his snow tightly, shaping it into the form of a loaf before adding a snowball as the head and a smaller one as the snout, which repeatedly fell off.

Miss Sterling stifled her laughter from above, and Felix eventually squashed the snout into the ground and restarted.

“It’s not as easy as it seemed, is it?” she teased in a whisper.

Felix finished his sculpture with a laugh, rising to his feet. Mr. Markham added a few final details to his before standing as well.

He shot a glance at Felix’s work for the first time with a nod of approval. “Not bad, Mr. Hawthorne.”

“Likewise.” Felix glanced at Mr. Markham’s pig. It was much slimmer than his.

Felix’s pig, on the other hand, looked like it had eaten Miss Sterling’s.

“Oh, my.” She covered her mouth with one of her gloved hands, exchanging a look with Mrs. Laurence, who was still silently observing the entire thing.

“How am I to choose?” Miss Sterling leaned over to examine each pig closer.

Felix saw Mr. Markham stand up taller as she studied his creation, and the grin on his face indicated that he thought he had already won.

“Wait—” Felix said. He dragged his finger in the snow to create a circle around the three pigs. “They ought to have an enclosed pen. We can’t have them running off.”

Miss Sterling’s eyes met his, her laughter intensifying. “I don’t think yours could run off even if he tried. The poor creature doesn’t have any legs.”

“Does he not?” Felix frowned. “A terrible oversight. Forgive me.”

“You are forgiven.” She stood up straight with a sigh. “But I’m afraid I must declare Mr. Markham the winner.” She shrugged. “His pig has legs.”

“But mine would surely be more prized,” Felix argued. “It is fatter.”

“The lady has spoken, Hawthorne.” Mr. Markham’s face split into wide smile. “We should have placed a wager on it!”

“Next time, perhaps.” Felix hid his vexation well, though the sight of Mr. Markham’s gloating grin caused him to question every aspect of the man’s character. He couldn’t help but scrutinize him. It was clear that Miss Sterling wasn’t falling in love with the man, and she had just told Felix the day before that love was what she truly wanted.

Mr. Markham focused on Miss Sterling. “For my victory, may I claim a few minutes of your time privately? I thought we might take a walk through the gardens, or perhaps you could show me the conservatory?”

A jolt of panic shot through Felix’s stomach. Was he planning to propose to her already? A private walk had many implications.

Miss Sterling’s shoulders stiffened. “Oh—I…”

“I have been hoping to visit the conservatory myself,” Felix said abruptly. “I will accompany you.”

Mrs. Laurence stepped forward. “No, that will not be⁠—”

“Of course,” Miss Sterling blurted. “The more the merrier. Katherine, you may accompany us as well.”

“Let us be off, then,” Felix said, gesturing for Mr. Markham to walk ahead of him. The man appeared totally baffled at the turn of events but moved silently forward anyway.

Felix’s shoulders slumped in relief. Miss Sterling’s reaction was enough for him to see that she wasn’t ready to accept Mr. Markham’s proposal. She even seemed grateful that Felix had intervened.

A spark of hope entered his chest.

The harsh and sudden dread that had struck him at the thought of Miss Sterling receiving a proposal had thrown all his senses into disarray. He obviously couldn’t fathom the thought of any man proposing to her.

Unless that man was himself.

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