“Look who’s gotten caught under the mistletoe!” Daniel hooted from the sofa, where he sat with an arm around Charlotte. “You’re going to have to kiss her, Miles my boy.”
Both Miles and Susanna’s eyes went round as saucers. They looked up to find, sure enough, Max had tucked bouquets of mistletoe into the garland that draped each window. Susanna recovered first. She placed a hand on her hip and faced the room. “Hawksridge is far too prim and proper to play games or kiss under the mistletoe,” she said with a laugh.
Miles’s eyes narrowed, and in the next moment, his arm snaked around Susanna’s waist pulling her toward him. He bent and pressed his lips to hers in a slow slide that lasted a few moments longer than was strictly necessary for a lighthearted kiss underneath the mistletoe. When they broke apart, everyone clapped loudly. Susanna turned and sketched a small curtsy, her smile in place. But Olivia didn’t miss the high color of her cheeks or the way she avoided looking at Miles.
“Well then…” Ellie breathed out.
“My thoughts exactly,” Olivia agreed.
Susanna came over and took the punch glass from Olivia’s hand. Her friend drank the rest of what was in the glass and handed it back to her. “Come on you two, let’s go play I Love My Love with an A.” She strode back over to the seating area to join the others. Olivia exchanged a look with Ellie, who just shrugged. She slipped an arm through her friend’s, and they went to join in the game.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Max pulled hisgloves off and handed them and his hat to Mr. Daniels. “Mr. Daniels, I hope that the hot coffee is ready. I believe we are all frozen to the bone from the ride home from church.”
“Yes, my lord. Breakfast is served in the morning room.”
“Thank goodness. I know it is Christmas, but the sermon was needlessly lengthy.” Max’s mother handed her muff to a footman.
“When the weather is better, we should attend service in Marbury. Vicar Spencer’s homilies are quite uplifting. He is Eleanor Grisham’s father,” Olivia said.
Grand-mère patted Olivia’s arm. “Well, they did do a very nice prayer for your dear Henry’s soul.”
“Yes, it was quite nice.”
Max noticed that Olivia hadn’t taken off any of her outerwear.
“Let’s have some food. I’m starving.” Louisa started toward the back of the house.
As the rest of his family headed to breakfast, Max turned to Olivia. “Too cold to shed your coat?” he teased.
“Oh, no, I must turn right around. Mr. Daniels, can you fetch the Boxing Day gift basket for the Johnsons and ask Mrs. Peabody to put into it a bottle of her famous tonic? Mrs. Johnson has caught the croup from their two youngest children. I expect it is because she has worn herself too thin this past month.”
“Right away, my lady.”
“You’re going back out? But it’s snowing,” Max said.
“Only a little. Mr. Johnson approached me after church and said he could come by and pick up some of Mrs. Peabody’s tonic for croup. When he told me his wife was ill, I sent him home and said I would deliver it myself.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Max had been up all night thinking about what may or may not be between Olivia and Mr. Galey and even more about Olivia and Henry. His anger at Henry for stealing away Olivia’s heart still burned like hot embers, banked but not out. It mixed with his guilt to make a very bad cocktail in his gut. There were things to talk about.
“That’s not necessary. I am perfectly capable of handling the small sleigh by myself.”
“Livvy, I am coming with you. It has nothing to do with your capability with the damn horse,” he growled. Then he strode away to find someone to fetch his coat.Stubborn woman.He wasn’t letting her go out into bad weather by herself, no matter her protests. Why wouldn’t she trust him?
When he returned to the front of the house with his coat, gloves, and beaver hat retrieved, she was gone. Had she left without him? Mr. Daniels came around the corner with a large wicker basket in his arms. No, she hadn’t left without her gifts. He opened the door for the butler, and they walked out into the snow. The small sleigh with a fresh horse had been brought around to the front. Olivia was already tucked in under a blanket. A large umbrella opened above her blocked much of the snow from landing on her head. Max glanced up at the sky. The clouds were thick and gray, promising more foul weather. He pulled up the collar of his coat and slipped into the sleigh next to her. It was a tight fit, but perhaps their combined body heat under the blanket would help keep them warm. He was gratified to feel hot bricks at his feet.
Mr. Daniels passed him the basket, and he tucked it between their feet and then covered it with yet another blanket to keep the moisture off. He turned to Olivia. “Do you want to drive Miss Perfectly Capable? I can hold the umbrella.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded and passed him the umbrella. Then she took up the reins and they were off. “It’s hardly snowing. There is nothing to worry about.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and scooted close. When she shot him a sharp look, he shrugged. “I need you to keep me warm. You know with my thin blood.”
Olivia guffawed. Flicking the reins, she encouraged the horse to pick up speed, and they flew over the fields. The snow came at them sideways, the small flakes biting against his cheeks. The scenery went past in a bucolic slide of snow-covered fields and bare tree branches stretching out to the gray sky. Max thought again about Olivia and Julien Galey. What was the nature of their relationship? He’d thought things were progressing well with his plans to woo Livvy, but if she and Julien were lovers, then perhaps he was just being foolish.
“Are you and Mr. Galey lovers?”