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It had been several days since Julia's last visit to her favourite bookstore. But while out shopping with Chelsea, she could not help but try her luck in the hopes that by chance she might somehow come across the young and handsome gentleman who had been stealing her thoughts away whenever her life seemed to stand still for a moment.
Upon entering, the bookstore was just as it always was, quiet and musky with the scent of so many books. The elderly assistant dipped his head in greeting to her before she began to browse about the shelves. For the first time, she found that her attention was fixed upon the few other people in the store rather than the books. Her gaze was drawn by every small movement and lingered on each face, looking for one in particular.
Could he possibly be here?She wondered, hoping against hope that maybe he might have the same inkling to return and find her also. It would be just like in one of the few romance books she had allowed herself to indulge in every so often.
Yet in all the faces, she did not see the face she so longed to see and so instead she collected the books from the shelves that she had meant to purchase the last time she had been in attendance.
"Did you find everything that you were looking for today, miss?" the elderly clerk asked as she arrived at the counter to pay.
"Yes, thank you," she forced herself to say, though she sighed inwardly, disappointment clawing at her insides to think of the one thing she had not found in amongst all those wonderful bookshelves. Her chest ached a little with the knowledge that their one meeting might be all she would ever get.
"Have a good day, miss," the clerk said with a bow if his head as he handed her the now wrapped-up books she had purchased. She thanked him kindly before removing herself from the bookstore to find Chelsea awaiting her outside with her father's coachman, who had been sent to keep an eye on them both.
"Please, allow me to take those for you, miss," the man said and Julia did not protest, knowing he would only insist until she gave in or Chelsea joined him.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Chelsea asked and even before Julia responded, she could feel her best friend watching her closely, as if she was already well aware that she was about to lie.
"Yes," she responded with a forced smile and before Chelsea could question her, she hooked her arm into her friend's and began to walk her down the street towards their carriage. "Was there anything of interest in the modiste?"
"I collected a few ribbons for my hair, but that is all," Chelsea stated, sounding more than a little disappointed, and she shrugged. Clearly she had been hoping for more.
"Perhaps a few more shops then?" Julia suggested, and Chelsea appeared to perk up a little.
They were just looking into the jewellery shop window when Chelsea finally spoke out. "Is there something bothering you, Julia? You have not seemed yourself of late."
For a moment Julia tried to pretend as though something in the store had caught her eye. Releasing Chelsea's arm, she stepped closer to the window and cupped her hands to shield her eyes so that she could pretend to take a better look.
Then, with a deep breath, she turned and said, "I can assure you that there is nothing bothering me."
Yet as soon as the words left her lips, she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself, for they were not entirely true. For days now, something had been bothering her, and that was the fact she had
failed to learn who the man in the bookstore had been. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could still see his beautiful forest green ones staring back at her and the smile that he had flashed at her as he spoke of John Locke and the works she chose to read. She found herself wondering for a moment what he might think of the titles she had picked up today but she quickly realised it didn't matter because she would likely never see him again.
"Do you wish to go inside?" she asked Chelsea, trying to change the subject as quickly as she was able. She was rather hoping that her friend's love of shiny things would be enough to distract her, but Chelsea quickly shook her head.
"I think I have enough jewellery at the moment," she stated in a tone that didn't sound much like Chelsea at all. "I think perhaps we ought to begin heading home."
Before Julia could offer any kind of protest, Chelsea hooked her arm into hers and began to walk them both back in the direction of where they had left the carriage. Chelsea's father's man followed behind them with all the boxes, bags, and parcels they had accumulated over their shopping trip.
Julia felt sorry for the man and couldn't help but smile at the relief that crossed his face when he placed everything in the carry trunk at the back of the carriage.
"I think perhaps we ought to avoid Bond Street at this time of day, don't you, Chelsea?" Julia pointed out when she heard the ringing of the bells throughout the town that suggested the clock had just struck midday. Chelsea nodded in agreement and the two young women clambered into the carriage.
Even as she settled into her seat, Julia found herself glancing out of the carriage window in the direction of the bookstore, hopeful that just maybe her mystery man might suddenly appear from within.
He did not and as soon as the coachman had secured their parcels; the carriage started to move off from the kerb. The streets of London with their cobbled roads weren't the most comfortable terrain to travel upon in a carriage, but the most uncomfortable part of the journey was Chelsea examining her closely, as if she thought there was definitely something wrong.
"Are you certain you are alright?" her friend asked after several minutes of long and drawn-out silence. "You really haven't been yourself since the last time we came into town and I may be imagining things, but I think that you are worse since you came out of the bookstore today."
Julia's insides twisted. She should have known better than to try and keep anything from her best friend. Sometimes Chelsea knew her even better than she knew herself.
"It's nothing," Julia insisted. "I…" She started to suggest that there was a book she had been hoping to find that she had been trying to get her hands on but had not managed to find it but she never got the chance.
A loud commotion began outside the carriage and just as Chelsea was distracted into looking out of the window, the carriage careened to a halt, jerking wildly as if it had been struck by something.
The familiar voice of their coachman sounded almost immediately as Julia flung herself backward into her seat, gripping hold of the bench to keep herself firmly planted. Having closed her eyes instinctively, it was only the groaning coming from Chelsea that made her open them again.
The moment that she spotted her friend kneeling on the floor of the carriage between the two benches, she forgot entirely about her shock and her terror and dropped down beside her. "Chelsea? Chelsea! Are you alright?"
