His Christmas Match (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time) (15 page)

“May I see the list?” Miss
Valentine asked.

Noah handed it to her.
 
She bit her full bottom lip and squinted at
the writing. With a sigh, she reached into the basket to retrieve her
spectacles and returned to reading the items once they were perched on the end
of her nose.

He had no idea she needed the glasses
for reading.
 
Surprisingly, they were
quite attractive and only enhanced her intelligent, deep, blue eyes.

After a moment she sighed and
looked up. “I have no idea what adorning tresses is except perhaps a hair comb
or brush.”

“Above the kiss?” Noah asked.

Her bright smile returned, and
Miss Valentine’s eyes danced with merriment. “Mistletoe.”

* * *

“As we are at my room, I will
retrieve a hair comb,” Lady Jillian announced and disappeared into her room.”

“That is it then,” Broadridge
announced. “We’ve retrieved all the items we can.” He pulled a watch from the
inside of his pocket. “And it only took us an hour.”

Lady Jillian returned to the hall
and dropped a jeweled comb into the basket. It was encrusted with rubies and
diamonds.
 
Rosalind had never seen a more
beautiful hair adornment.
 
How many combs
such as this did Lady Jillian own? Rosalind owned only one set of combs, and
there wasn’t a single embellishment on them. They were for holding her hair in
place not a decoration.

“Are we done?” Lady Jillian asked
with excitement. It was the happiest Rosalind had seen her since the game
began.

“Not yet,” Felding answered. “We
still have mistletoe to retrieve.”

“Mistletoe?” Lady Jillian asked
glancing at each person in the group.

“Where are we going to get
mistletoe?” Broadridge asked.

“We will cut it from trees as
everyone else does,” Felding answered.

Brother and sister frowned and
looked at Felding as if he had lost his mind.
 
Rosalind wouldn’t be surprised if they asked a servant to obtain it for
them. In fact, their servants probably saw to the gathering of mistletoe,
cutting the Yule log, and any other decorations the family used in preparation
for Christmas.

“Shall we fetch our coats and
meet by the front door?” Rosalind asked.

Felding shook his head. “Kitchen
door,” he answered before grinning. “We don’t want the others to know what we
are about.
 
Besides, we will need to
procure a ladder and saw on the way into the woods.”

“You aren’t seriously considering
walking through the kitchen and then climbing a tree for mistletoe because of a
silly game?” Lady Jillian gaped at him as though he was mad.

Rosalind wasn’t sure which Lady
Jillian objected to more . . . actually having to enter a kitchen or climbing a
tree. Not that she would climb anything. Her presence was simply required. She
could stand and observe as she had done most of the game.

“Yes, I am,” Felding answered.

Rosalind wasn’t about to stand
and listen to them argue. Even if Lady Jillian was not happy with the idea, she
knew it was necessary and moved down the hall toward her chambers so that she
could gather her coat, slip into her traveling boots, and pull on her gloves.

“You shouldn’t be doing this
yourself,” Lady Jillian insisted. “Have a servant do it for us.”

“Servants aren’t playing the
game. We are,” Felding answered her.

Rosalind slipped into her room
and could no longer hear them.
 
Penelope
still slept, so she was quiet as she moved about.
 
She glanced over to find the maid smiling.
“You solved one of the clues?” she whispered.

Rosalind moved to her side. “You
know what they are?”

“Oh, yes.
 
Lady Meadows told us. We are not to help
unless specifically asked.”

“Where is a ladder and saw?”

The older woman chuckled.
 
“It has been left just inside the
stables.
 
We didn’t think anyone would
figure it out.”

“Thank you,” Rosalind whispered
and quickly pulled on her boots before exiting the room.

Lord Felding stood in the hall,
and they turned toward the stairs leading to the kitchen.
 
“Where are Lady Jillian and Lord Broadridge?”
she asked after a moment.

“I hope they are retrieving their
coats,” Felding grumbled quietly.
 
“If
the four of us don’t stay together we will lose even if we gather every item.”

“I am sure they will be along
quickly,” Rosalind insisted though she inwardly feared the two would quit the
game before they were finished.

When they reached the back door,
Rosalind told him of her discussion with the maid. “I will wait for Lady
Jillian and Lord Broadridge. When they arrive, we will meet you at the
stables.”

He nodded. “Thank goodness Lady
Meadows put you on my team. We wouldn’t have half the items if she hadn’t.”

More likely they wouldn’t have
any Rosalind thought to herself as she watched Felding trudge through the
snow.
 
He would have figured out the
clues on his own, but would have had no assistance whatsoever in obtaining the
items.

“Are you sure we have to go
outside?” Lady Jillian whined to her brother as they entered the kitchens.

“If Felding says we do, then we
will.”

Lady Jillian’s eyes swept over
Rosalind coldly. Why did the lady dislike her so? “Lord Felding has gone to
retrieve the ladder and saw. We are to meet him at the stables.”

She opened the door and brother
and sister swept through without even a nod or thank you.

“Come along, Miss Valentine,”
Lady Jillian said once she was outside. “We can’t keep Lord Felding waiting.”

Rosalind bit the inside of her
cheek to keep from reminding Lady Jillian that she wasn’t the one who had held
anyone up but remained silent and followed the two to the stables.

Felding stood by the ladder and
held the saw. “Are we ready?”
 

His enthusiasm for the game made
Rosalind smile, and she was determined not to let Lady Jillian or her brother
spoil what remained of the game for her.

Felding held out the saw, but
Broadridge did not take it.
 
Did the
gentlemen think Felding could carry the ladder and the saw? Rosalind knew Lady
Jillian wouldn’t be of assistance and walked around the two and took the item
from Felding.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile
and then hoisted the ladder off of the ground.
 
“I believe the mistletoe is in that direction.” He nodded toward the
thick woods behind the house.

“Why there?” Lady Jillian asked
as she picked up the hem of her skirt and began following Lord Felding.

“I saw some earlier while we were
out for the hunt. There are Ash and Hawthorn trees there.”

Lady Jillian directed a
questioning look at her brother who shrugged.

“Mistletoe is more likely to be
found on those trees than others,” Rosalind explained.

Lady Jillian speared her a look
as if she didn’t appreciate Rosalind answering before she turned away hurrying
to catch up with Felding. It was difficult to match his long strides, and
Rosalind let herself trail back.
 
She
would catch them quickly enough once Felding reached the correct tree.

Thirteen

They
didn’t need to travel too deeply into the woods before Noah spotted a mass of
mistletoe. He stopped before it and leaned the ladder against the Hawthorn
tree. “Broadridge, I’ll hold the ladder, and you can climb and cut the
mistletoe.”

The
future duke stood back and looked at up at the tree and then back at the
ladder. “Why don’t I hold it for you,” he suggested.

Noah
didn’t care which one of them held and which one climbed just that it needed to
be done. “Very well.”
 
He stepped onto
the first wrung and then the second before turning pointedly at Broadridge. He
wasn’t going any higher until the man steadied the ladder.
 
The bottom was now buried in snow and though
it felt secure when he first stepped on it, Noah wasn’t so certain the ground
was even enough or that it wouldn’t shift.

Broadridge
moved forward and grasped both sides securely, and Noah continued his
climb.
 
He was barely at the top when the
ladder shifted against the tree. Noah glanced down.
 
Broadridge had stepped back and was blowing
on his exposed hands.
 

“Didn’t
you bring gloves?”

The
gentleman shrugged.
 
“It didn’t occur to
me.”

Noah
grumbled under his breath.
 
Broadridge
was the height of fashion at all times. Even if he hadn’t put on winter gloves,
he should at least be wearing a pair one did when they went in to Society.
“Please hold the ladder steady,” he ground out.

Miss
Valentine worried her bottom lip and came to stand beneath the tree still
holding the saw.
 
Soon she would be out
of his reach, but at least she was being of assistance.

The
ladder shifted again, and Noah looked back. Once again Broadridge was blowing
on his fingers which were now turning red from exposure. At this rate, he would
never be able to cut the mistletoe, and had a very good chance of falling.
 
“Never mind,” he yelled down and began to
descend the ladder. “I’ll hold and you can climb, Broadridge. I’ll even loan
you my gloves.”
 
He could just as easily
loan him the gloves so Broadridge could hold the ladder, but didn’t trust that
the man would let the ladder fall anyway.

Noah
jumped to the ground and turned to Broadridge before yanking off his gloves.
“Here.” He thrust them at the man.
 
“We
are running out of time. If we are late, even if we do have all the items, we
will still lose.”

Broadridge
glanced back at the tree. “I can’t climb up there,” he argued.

Noah
simply stared at the gentleman man and shook his head not sure what to say. He
had never encountered anyone so worthless before.

“I
will,” Miss Valentine offered.

Noah
wasn’t surprised by her offer and hopefully it shamed Broadridge enough to do
the right thing. “It is not necessary, Miss Valentine.”

“Someone
needs to climb up.” She shrugged.

Noah
looked back at Broadridge and didn’t even bother glancing in Lady Jillian’s
direction.
 
She was probably huddled in
her coat wishing for this adventure to be over.

“That
is an excellent idea,” Broadridge said.

Noah
couldn’t believe Broadridge would allow a young woman to climb the ladder, but
they had little choice.
 
He thrust out
his hand. “At least give me my gloves back.”

Broadridge
looked at him in surprise. “Oh, well, of course.”
 
He pulled them from his fingers and placed
both in Noah’s outstretched hand.

Noah
turned to Miss Valentine. “Are you sure?”

She
laughed. “I’ve done this before.”

“Cut
mistletoe?” Lady Jillian asked in surprised.

“No,
climbed trees and ladders to gather apples,” Miss Valentine answered happily.

Noah
once again tested the ladder against the ground and tree. He would hate for
Miss Valentine to lose her balance. She approached the ladder and looked for a
way to hold the saw so she could also climb.

“Good
God, Broadridge. Be useful and hand Miss Valentine the saw when she reaches the
mistletoe.”

He
blinked and looked at them both. “Oh, of course.”

Noah
sighed deeply when he wanted to plant the man a facer. Was Broadridge so
oblivious to what needed to be done? Was he so used to having everything done
for him?
 
He probably had a servant hold
his cock when he took a piss.

Miss
Valentine handed the saw over and began to climb the rungs.
 
It was slow going because she had to watch so
that she didn’t step on the end of her skirt.
 
Broadridge would know no ends of Noah’s wrath if Miss Valentine fell
because he was too lazy or scared to do this.

“Please
hurry, Miss Valentine. I am getting cold,” Lady Jillian whined.

Noah
didn’t even look at the young woman and suspected Miss Valentine was ignoring
the request as well.
 
She was going as
quickly as she could but slow enough not to trip.
 

When
she reached the top of the ladder, the mistletoe was barely within her reach.
“Could you hand me the saw, please?”

Broadridge
stepped close to the tree and stretched to hand it to Miss Valentine.
 
She took it and began sawing at a small limb.