Page 82 of Stolen By the Duke of Ice
Dahlia counted eleven pinecones in her basket.
“How many were you able to get?” she asked her friend.
“Nine.”
“Twenty is a very far number from what I had been hoping to gather; these will not even cover the tree! I had planned to use the pinecones on the staircase and mantle as well.”
“Are there any more pine trees nearby?” Helena asked looking around.
“I’m not sure; I have not ventured to walk this way before.”
Dahlia looked up at the pine trees; still attached to their branches were numerous cones.
“Perhaps we should climb it?”
“I cannot vouch for my climbing skills, especially not in these clothes.” Helena laughed. “Shall we try shaking one of the trees instead?”
Putting their baskets aside, Dahlia and Helena chose a pine tree that seemed to have the greatest number of cones hanging from it.
“Push!”
“What on earth can they be doing?”
Peter and Matteo, who had seen the solicitor out, stood just outside the castle door. The squeals that they heard initially alarmed them. Both gentlemen turned towards the sounds which seemed to be coming from the nearby park. But the feminine laughter that followed soon had them relaxing.
Dahlia and Helena.
“Come,” said Matteo with a grin, “let us see what the ladies are up to.
Peter hesitated, and his friend, seeing this, goaded him.
“One would think you were afraid of her, Duke.”
Peter knew that Matteo was baiting him as he knew that the best way to discourage him was to show himself unaffected.
He instructed a footman to gather their coats, and they proceeded to walk in the direction of the park.
On the way, they saw the two footmen felling a small fir.
“She certainly did not waste time.”
“For what?”
Peter pointed to the footmen and the tree.
“Dahlia has this notion of using a real tree to celebrate Christmas. She plans to decorate it with all manner of things.”
“That is quite a notion.”
“Quite.”
They reached the ladies’ location and upon seeing them, almost gaped at the scene they presented.
Dahlia and Helena were shaking a tree—or more accurately, attempting to shake a tree.
“Push harder!” Dahlia said, half laughing.
“I am pushing harder! Stop laughing, I cannot push when you make me laugh!”
