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No one else was in a tree like she was.

Still, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh and then a long sigh as she took in the sight. It was marvelous up in the tree, and she was only a short distance above London, but it felt like a world away. It was a place where she didn’t need to deal with the duke, her mother, or any potential suitors. It was a place where she could do as she pleased, even if she didn’t have many options.

Eleanor took a deep breath, knowing that when she retired to the base of the tree, she would return to reality.

The sky was a blue ocean above her where birds swam and glided. The people below didn’t look like ants, but they looked small, and Eleanor felt some power over them.

She looked back down at the park, surveying the area for her mother, facing the fact that reality was constantly calling her, and she spotted Margaret near the pond, on a bench with the admiral, both of them with ice creams in hand, and both of them laughing.

Eleanor couldn’t help but smile. Her mother caused trouble at times, but she deserved to be happy.

“She’s by the pond,” Eleanor called to the duke. “I’m coming down.”

Eleanor followed the same route down as she had taken up, carefully placing her feet while keeping a tight grip on the branch above.

Until the last branch, the one at the very bottom. She placed her foot on it, and as soon as she shifted her weight, she knew something was wrong. The bark on the branch under her boot came away as soon as she touched it, and her foot slipped from the branch.

Eleanor tried to hang onto the branch above, but she didn’t have the strength.

For a moment, she was weightless.

Then her stomach lurched as she fell to the ground.

Which she hit with a⁠—

Not a thud. She was cushioned and bobbed up and down in the duke’s arms as he caught her. She looked up into his eyes and immediately knew that she was safe. She parted her lips slightly to say something, to protest that she was fine and didn’t need to be saved, but that was a complete lie.

If she had hit the ground, she could have broken something. She would have been hurt. Gabriel had saved her. His strong arms had saved her. She was thankful to him, but found it hard to put that into words.

Gabriel bent down a little to place her feet on solid ground, and then he held her as she straightened up. Eleanor quickly grabbed his shoulder when she realized her legs had turned to jelly with the fall. Her heart was racing, and it was only now that the fear came rushing back to her.

She’d climbed trees so many times, and that had never happened. Eleanor was mortified that he had been there to see her at her most vulnerable, but also thankful that he had saved her from injury, especially now the Season was underway.

Eleanor clung to him, and Gabriel kept a hand on her back, holding her close.

“Are you all right?” he asked, sounding as if he were very far away. “You could have really injured yourself.”

“I’m…fine,” she replied. “I think I’m fine.”

“Take a moment,” he soothed.

Eleanor had been avoiding eye contact, but she looked into his eyes now, and she saw the concern contained within them. She breathed out heavily, then moved her face closer to his. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him and calm her heart a little.

This is not how it was supposed to be. He was only supposed to want to kiss me when we were arguing. Except, I’m the one who wants to kiss him.

No, she could see it in his eyes. The way he looked at her, and the way he held her, firmly but tenderly, told a story. And he did not move back when she moved in.

Eleanor pushed it further, closing the gap a little more, flirting with danger.

What am I doing? Am I delirious after the fall?

Their mouths were so close that she could feel his warm breath on her lips. She could smell his cologne, almost taste him again.

“You shouldn’t take such risks,” Gabriel breathed, still holding her.

“And you worry too much,” she replied, barely a whisper.

When the sound of voices came closer, it was Gabriel who broke the embrace. A couple passed on the path ahead of Eleanor, not looking their way. What would they have thought if they had seen the couple?