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And during the second half of the performance, Gabriel began to feel as though his attentions might be reciprocated. Almost every time he glanced in the young woman's direction, he was able to catch her eye. She would blush and flutter her fan before glancing away again, as though she could not quite bring herself to meet his gaze for any prolonged period.
By the end of the musicale, when the applause had died down, Gabriel glanced at his pocket watch and saw that it was far later than he might have anticipated. Though oddly, he would have liked to stay a little while longer. His mother would like worry or maybe even get the wrong end of the stick if she believed their night was going well enough for them to remain at the musicale.
Remembering her face when he and Jonathan had explained how they had come to be invited to such a thing, he knew all too well that the scheming cogs had already turned in his mother's mind. He was just relieved that she had not been with them that morning when the accident had occurred or even that she had tried to get herself an invite in order to interfere.
As the guests began to disperse into smaller groups to talk after the performance, Gabriel whispered to his brother, "I do believe it is time we departed." The look upon his younger brother's face suggested that he was about to protest and so Gabriel quickly added, "You do not wish to appear too eager with Miss Chelsea."
At that, his brother's mouth gaped as though feigning shock or even offence and he hissed back, "I have never been any such thing with any lady."
Gabriel simply cocked his eyebrow at his brother in a pointed look, reminding him of his earlier days in Italy, when he had been extremely young and a hopeful romantic who was willing to woo any woman to get what he wanted. Though they had both grown since then, it had not been all that long ago and Gabriel was still well aware of the trouble his brother could cause in such circumstances.
"I think it best we call it a night and play this carefully, brother," Gabriel insisted, a slight warning edge to his voice as he clapped his brother on the shoulder.
"We ought to at least say farewell to our hosts," Jonathan persisted, and although Gabriel knew that his brother was right, he could not help but wish he could avoid it.
Though it was Miss Chelsea's mother who had extended the invitation, it had clearly been made on behalf of the two girls, and Gabriel wasn't sure he was prepared to look upon Miss Julia's beautiful face again. He feared that if he did, he might never pluck up the courage to walk away. Yet it appeared he would have little choice.
“Oh, do not say you are leaving already!” came the exclamation behind them. Gabriel’s teeth gritted the moment he heard Miss Chelsea’s voice. A part of him had hoped to simply slip out while nobody was watching, and yet he ought to have known better than to believe he could ever do that.
He could still feel the eyes of several other guests glimpsing over him and his brother, making a very poor attempt at not looking as if they were trying to look at them. Several inaudible whispers fluttered around the place. Though the voices were too quiet to hear what was actually being said, it was clearly being spoken about them.
Struggling to ignore it all going on around him, Gabriel turned with his brother to find Miss Chelsea and Miss Julia standing side by side behind them. The two women gave respectful curtseys the moment that they turned and Gabriel noticed that although she was silent, Miss Julia looked almost as disappointed as her friend at their decision to leave.
“I am afraid we must,” Gabriel insisted, and he was more than a little relieved when his brother did not protest in the face of the pretty blonde he seemed to have taken such a shine to.I do hope she is worthy of such attention,Gabriel thought, always having worried about the moment when his brother would finally give the right kind of attention to a woman.
So far, his brother had yet to make any inappropriate comment or hint at anything untoward when it came to the young lady, and yet the gleam in his eyes and the way he smiled suggested he was definitely interested in her.
“Yes,” Jonathan agreed with a sadness to his tone, “I’m afraid our dear mother might begin to worry if we do not return home soon.”
The moment Chelsea’s face lit up at his words, Gabriel knew exactly what his brother was doing. He was making himself out to be the warm and caring type who insisted upon caring for their widowed mother. Gabriel had to bite back the urge to point out that it was he who always cared for their mother whenever it came down to it.
Whether it was putting her mind at ease from some kind of gossip circulating or even physically caring for her during illness, it was always him while Jonathan avoided all responsibilities just as was his prerogative as a second son.
“Perhaps we shall see each other again soon?” Miss Chelsea suggested, looking more than a little hopeful. Gabriel wasn’t sure whether he actually saw it, or whether he might have been imagining it. He thought he saw a flicker of hope in her friend’s eyes as well.
“I believe we shall definitely see each other around from time to time,” Jonathan agreed, holding out his hand to take hold of Miss Chelsea’s.
“Yes, and in the meantime, please offer our warmest regards and thanks to your mother, Miss Chelsea,” Gabriel put in, sure that he ought to say something polite even though he could feel his heart racing at the thought of leaving.
“I am sure she will be most upset when I tell her that you had to leave early,” Miss Chelsea commented, smiling down at Jonathan even as he leaned down to kiss her knuckles in farewell.
Quickly remembering himself, Gabriel stepped forward and lifted his hand to take hold of Miss Julia’s. He was surprised when she almost immediately placed her lace-gloved hand into his palm.
For once, their gazes locked and neither of them was able to look away. She squeezed his hand a little tighter, and that was when he felt something cooler in her hand, something smooth, a piece of paper perhaps, folded into a tiny square and placed discreetly into his palm.
Heart racing, he thought,maybe she did find my note after all.In an attempt to stop himself from looking like a fool with his mouth open, he quickly dipped his gaze from hers and pressed his lips in farewell to her knuckles. Even through the lace of her gloves, it took little to imagine just how soft her skin was. The mere thought of it sent a warm tingle down the length of Gabriel’s spine.
When he rose back to his full height, the two carefully slipped their hands apart so as not to drop the piece of paper or give away that anything had passed between them save for an innocent farewell.It is entirely innocent,he assured himself even as he folded his fingers around the paper and placed it in his pocket. The urge to unfold it and read whatever she had written within was only stopped because they were still surrounded by people who were all too eager to begin gossiping once again.
“I wish you a safe journey, Mr. Tatford,” Miss Julia said, her voice shaking slightly. She smiled sweetly and dropped her gaze from his even as she offered a curtsey.
“Thank you, Miss Julia. I wish you a pleasant evening,” Gabriel responded, bowing. He was reluctant to say anything further. It was all too easy for him to feel the eyes of several nobles watching them, judging silently, though with enough force for Gabriel to feel it through their gazes.
His stomach churned at the thought of what was going to happen the moment they departed, and yet he knew all too well that it would happen eventually. There was no point in prolonging the agony.
“Come, Jonathan,” he said firmly when his brother appeared to be having trouble breaking away. “We must return home to mama.”
“Thank you again for a wonderful evening,” Jonathan insisted and finally released Miss Chelsea’s hand though the both of them could not hide their expressions of disappointment.
