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He was distracted from his surroundings the moment that he entered the drawing room. The maid standing close to the door curtseyed immediately upon the butler’s announcing them and the young woman sitting on the couch, quickly stood to do the same. Gabriel’s insides churned all over again the moment that he saw Miss Chelsea was alone save for her maid, who was clearly acting as chaperone.
“Lord Sutthers, Lord Tatford,” Miss Chelsea greeted them with a smile and a low curtesy, “I am surprised and very pleased at your visit.”
“Miss Chelsea,” Gabriel, as the elder brother, automatically responded with a bow, “we do hope we are not disturbing you this afternoon. We were just passing through with a little more time on our hands than expected and thought we ought to pay a visit.”
“Oh, no!” Miss Chelsea insisted, shaking her head firmly. Although she was addressing him, it was quite clear that she had only eyes for Jonathan and that made Gabriel all the more disappointed that her friend had failed to be in attendance with her. “You are not disturbing anything, my lord. Please, both of you, make yourselves comfortable.”
While Gabriel and Jonathan were doing as she suggested, the young woman turned to the butler and suggested, “Please, stay a moment or two,” before she turned to her maid and added, “Go now.”
The maid, looking a little flushed in the cheeks, quickly curtseyed again and hurried away to do whatever her mistress had bid her.
Then Miss Chelsea suggested again to the butler, “Once she returns, please would you have some refreshments brought up for my guests and me?”
“Of course, Miss.”
With that, Miss Chelsea finally returned herself to her seat opposite them and spun around with a smile to say, “Perhaps after some refreshments, the two of you might be willing to join me for a walk in the park? I have been hoping to go for a couple of days now, but I am always loath to go alone.”
Gabriel knew very well that a young woman such as Miss Chelsea could never truly find herself walking alone, there would always be a maid or some other servant or even her own mother attending a walk with her, and yet he knew very well what she was hinting at.
Before Gabriel could suggest any differently, Jonathan quickly spoke up, “I do believe we are both in need of a good walk. We’ve spent far too much time relying upon carriages recently.”
Knowing that there was little way he could go against his brother’s wishes, especially after he had so politely accepted Miss Chelsea’s suggestion, Gabriel suppressed a sigh and nodded. “I think you are right, Jonathan.”
“Excellent!” Miss Chelsea clapped her hands together with delight and added, “I shall have my maid fetch my coat as soon as she returns from delivering a message for me.”
Gabriel was pleasantly surprised by their walk to the park. Walking a little way behind his brother and Miss Chelsea, he was able to admire the early winter that had begun to creep upon London. There was a frost upon the ground and a strikingly blue sky overhead. Though as they walked, Gabriel noticed the thick fluffy clouds that began to roll in from a distance, getting thicker and thicker.
“I do believe there might be snow on the way,” he heard his brother comment as though he had noticed them also.
“Oh, good, I do so love the snow!” Miss Chelsea exclaimed, sounding a little more like a girl than a young woman, though both he and his brother smiled at her enthusiasm.
I wonder if Miss Julia is a fan of the snow?Gabriel wondered, relieved that he had worn his gloves that morning thanks to the chill that had begun to set in. Even after over two years with London being his main home, the earl was still having a hard time growing used to the climate of England compared to Italy.
Though in both countries it was possible to feel extreme heat and bitter cold, the changing temperatures of England were far more unpredictable and often left him feeling as though he was being dragged from pillar to post.
Yet after having spent two Christmases in England, he could certainly say that winter was well and truly on its way. The coldness of the air when he breathed it deeply into his nose made his nostrils tingle and he relished the sensation even though it caused him to realise that soon the decorations would be brought out and he would face reminder after reminder of the time when his father had left them so abruptly.
He was beginning to feel more than a little melancholy by the time they reached the park, though there was one thing to cheer him. They had been within the park bounds for a little over five minutes when Miss Chelsea exclaimed, “Look! Look, both of you!”
At the shrillness of her tone, Gabriel automatically turned his gaze to follow her gloved index finger where she was pointing down the path. For a few moments, he could not believe his own eyes, struggling to stop himself from rubbing them before looking again, when he quickly realised that they were not deceiving him.
“Well, look, brother!” Jonathan exclaimed, sounding almost as enthusiastic as his feminine companion. “If it isn’t Miss Julia up ahead!”
Gabriel had already stopped dead in his tracks, still unable to believe his luck. The beautiful blonde woman was almost impossible to recognise in her new wintery attire with her red hat matching her red tartan gown and both hemmed with the most astonishing white fur he had ever seen. She was a radiant winter beauty who took Gabriel’s breath away.
“Julia! Julia! Over here!” Miss Chelsea called, ignoring the looks of several passersby who clearly did not like her disturbing the peace. Miss Julia did not look entirely surprised to see them.
Gabriel wondered back to their earlier conversation in the drawing room in which Miss Chelsea had mentioned her maid delivering a letter for her.Did she set this up?Gabriel wondered, his teeth clenching out of habit more than out of genuine anger. If she had tried to set up a meeting with any other young woman, he might have been furious. Yet just seeing Miss Julia walking towards them with her own maid made his heart soar.
Clearing his throat and discreetly adjusting his jacket just as Jonathan had done with his own back at the bottom of the porch steps, Gabriel stepped up to join his brother and Miss Chelsea.
“Well, if this isn’t a most pleasant surprise!” Miss Chelsea exclaimed, though there was a hint of something in her tone that suggested to Gabriel it wasn’t entirely a surprise. “It is most wonderful to run into you, Julia.”
“And I you, Chelsea,” Julia said, the two of them gripping hold of each other’s forearms in somewhat of an embrace and kissing each other in the French fashion upon both cheeks before she turned to Gabriel and Jonathan and greeted them in as just as friendly a manner. She curtseyed low and said, “Lord Sutthers, Lord Tatford, it is most pleasant to see you both on this fine day.”
“Indeed, it is to see you also, Miss Julia,” Jonathan responded quickly when Gabriel found he was too utterly gobsmacked at seeing her to speak. He quickly bowed his head and tried to clear his throat again.
When his voice finally came to him, he was relieved not to sound as dumbfounded as he felt. “It is indeed a fine day made all the finer by your presence, Miss Julia.”
