She met his gaze. “I love it. Truly. I—” She stopped. At a loss for words. Instead, she turned and pulled an emerald-green box from the tabletop behind her. “This is for you.”

An inscrutable look crossed Sebastian’s face, and he took a seat next to her on the settee and set the box on his lap.

“I…purchased it the summer before…er. I never got a chance to give it to you the first Christmastide we were married,” she explained. She didn’t want him to think she’d gone to any sort of trouble to buy him this gift recently. Certainly not since…things had changed between them.

“Oh,” Sebastian murmured. He pulled off the silver ribbon and removed the lid. Inside was a black onyx panther. He lifted it from the box and examined the piece of art. It had emeralds for eyes, he noted. “It’s…very fine.”

Veronica glanced away from him and nodded.

“You kept it…all this time,” he said quietly.

“Well, I—” The way he said it made it sound…special. She opened her mouth to say something, to deny that keeping it had any significance, but the words wouldn’t come. Which is why she was exceedingly glad for her brother’s interruption when Justin came marching over to the settee.

“What do you have there?” Justin asked, pointing to Veronica’s gift.

She held up the box for him to see. “Sebastian gave me a painting set.”

“Ah, and what did you get him?” Justin asked.

“Never you mind,” Sebastian replied, standing. He gave Justin a new billiards cue and Justin gave Sebastian a box containing a bottle of oil and some fine cloths to clean his hunting rifle.

When the men were finished exchanging presents, Veronica pulled another small box from atop the table behind her and handed it to Justin. “Here’s your present, Brother. Though I daresay you deserve little more than a lump of dirt.”

“Why in the world would I deserve dirt? I think I’ve been quite good this year,” Justin replied with a grin.

“You know precisely why,” Veronica replied, arching a brow at him.

Justin opened the box that contained a set of monogrammed handkerchiefs. “Thank you,” he replied, with a bow. “And here is your gift.” He handed her a blue box with a white ribbon.

Veronica quickly unwrapped the box, which contained a gorgeous hat. It was violet, her favorite color, with a tasteful white feather on the side and a wide, white bow. She nearly squealed. “The shopkeeper told me it’s the latest fashion,” Justin said.

“It is! I just saw it in a periodical.” Veronica exclaimed, immediately placing the hat on her head, and tying the bow beneath her chin, all while continuing to study her lovely painting set, the hint of a smile on her lips.

“I’m glad you like it. You’ve always been one for the latest fashions,” Justin replied with a chuckle.

Sebastian grabbed two more boxes from the tabletop. “I’ll just be off to give Elizabeth and Jessica their gifts,” he announced. “It was nice buying gifts for the Whitmoreland family this year instead of just my mother. I don’t know why I even continue to buy her things. She’s liked nothing I’ve ever presented her with. Let alone ever said anything kind to me in her life.”