Page 126 of All I Want for Christmas… Is You
The sounds of a child's laughter drew her eyes up. There, not ten feet away, crouched the marquess behind an intricately molded bush resembling some exotic bird. She almost spoke, but a quick wave of his hand and conspiratorial wink silenced her. She smiled and audaciously winked in return before continuing forward, this time pretending to examine the bushes in great detail.
"I'm coming, Papa!" rang out a high, young voice from behind a baby elephant-shaped bush. The voice was followed by the appearance of a little girl with large brown eyes and thick, wavy brown hair falling free of its ribbon and threatening to hide her tiny heart-shaped face. A bonnet hanging by its neck ribbon bounced on her back as she ran.
She and Jocelyn both stopped and stared at each other, solemnly considering. The little girl popped a thumb in her mouth, her fingers curling around her nose as she stared at Jocelyn. Then the child dropped her hand to her side and smiled. "Hello. What's your name?"
Jocelyn's smile answered the child's. "Jocelyn Maybrey."
"I'm Anne," the child said forthrightly. "Have you seen Papa?"
Jocelyn squatted down by the child, pulling the bonnet back into place and retying its ribbon. "Well, I don't know. I might. What kind of animal is a papa?"
Gales of childish giggles burst out of the little girl. She fell backward on the ground, rolling from side to side.
"Oh, please. Mustn't do that, or you'll get sick like your aunt Lady Mary." She pulled her up and brushed the loose grass and leaves from her dark blue coat.
"No, I won't. You're silly."
"I am? Now, why would you say that?"
"Papa's not a'mal."
"He's not! Well, tell me what he looks like, then."
"He's bigger than that," she said, pointing to the parrot-shaped bird. "And strong, and my papa knows everything! My papa's a mar-kiss!"
"Well, he certainly sounds like an interesting person. You shall have to introduce us."
The little girl nodded, her thumb disappearing again into her mouth.
"So, are you playing hide-and-seek with your papa? Shall we look for him together?"
The child nodded again, a grin breaking out from around the thumb stuck in her mouth. Shyly she offered her free hand to Jocelyn. Together they circled a bush cut to resemble a giraffe, then Jocelyn led her new companion toward the parrot-shaped bush. She encouraged Lady Anne to go before her around the bush.
"No. Not here!" Lady Anne declared, then ran back to grab Jocelyn's hand to pull her toward another bush.
"Not here? But—" She pulled away from the child to peek around the bush herself. There was no marquess. In confusion, she quickly looked around to see if there were other parrot-shaped bushes about. There were none.
"Come on!" encouraged Lady Anne, pulling on Jocelyn's skirt.
"I'm coming," Jocelyn told her, hurrying forward and cursing the stiffness of her skirts that made quick movements feel like running in sand.
Lady Anne scampered on toward the lion-shaped bush. "Papa! Papa! I got a new friend, Papa! Come see!"
Jocelyn followed, wondering if the child could get lost. "Lady Anne! Wait for me!"
Too quickly, the child disappeared from view.
"Lady Anne! Lady Anne!" Jocelyn called, panic seeping into her voice. She lifted her skirts above her ankles to quicken her pace. "Lady Anne!" she called out again as she searched behind pyramids and circled other animals. "Lady Anne!"
"Are you looking for us?" inquired a low voice colored with laughter.
Jocelyn whirled about, her breath catching painfully in her chest. Behind her stood Tarkington with Lady Anne in his arms. The little girl had one arm looped around her father's neck, while the other was clamped over her mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles. Jocelyn sagged backward against a bush in relief, only to jerk upright at the feel of sharply cut branches piercing her back.
"Don't do that!" she admonished, frowning at them. She rubbed a spot on her shoulder that had received a particularly sharp poke from the branches.
"Do what? Don't you like playing hide-and-seek?" the marquess teased, his eyes laughing.
"I do, but it's not fair to put me in the game when I don't know the playing field," she returned sharply.
