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"It was not," Jonathan sighed deeply and Gabriel's stomach twisted further. His father's pocket watch, the one that had been handed down through the male line from eldest son to eldest son, was gone.Countless generations and I am the one to fail them,Gabriel thought.
"What? What is it? What is lost?" Their mother insisted, looking between her two sons as though she couldn't bear to think she was being kept out of the loop somehow. Gabriel started to shake his head, only to stop when he realised that it hurt just as much as everything else did. He certainly did feel as though he had been trampled by an entire team of horses.
"It is nothing, Mama," Jonathan assured her with a smile. The younger of the two had always been much more capable of lying to their parents and Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief when she seemed to take his word for it. Besides, she appeared much more concerned with other things.
"We should take this to the authorities," she declared, perching on the edge of the armchair to look around at the three men. "If you were pushed then someone requires punishment for this."
"Indeed, someone ought to pay," Barnaby spoke up rapidly but Gabriel shook his head, wincing once more.
Though he too would have liked to see the culprit pay and maybe even get his pocket watch back, he knew there was little that could be done. Not only had he been in the seedier part of London where eyewitnesses were far less reliable, but he had seen his attacker and yet would be entirely unable to identify him even if he tried.
When he closed his eyes and tried to remember what they had looked like, all he could see was a dark figure with cloak hood pulled up and scarf covering everything but eyes, eyes that had not really left much of an imprint upon his mind, unlike Miss Julia's who instantly invaded his mind the moment he thought of trying to picture memorable irises.
"It would do no good to go to the authorities," Gabriel stated aloud, his throat still dry and hoarse and finally his brother had the sense to reach for the water jug nearby to pour him a glass.
Gabriel drank it down, regretting it the moment the cold water hit his stomach and made him cringe. After he had done so, he added, "I could not identify the culprit even if I tried. They were too well disguised."
With a grim sense of distaste, he thought,and besides, the authorities would not take us any more seriously than the rest of them.He was no stranger to the fact that everyone in power was linked somehow and the authorities were likely very much linked to those who were determined to keep him and his brother from ever truly fitting in.
If that were not the case, the authorities would have already paid a visit upon hearing a nobleman had been injured.It was a grim knowledge indeed and yet Gabriel was partly relieved because in his current state he was not sure he was fit to sit through an interrogation, even if he had not done anything wrong.
"If you are unwilling to go to the authorities, then you must at least allow me to help you and your brother run things while you are stuck in bed," Barnaby insisted, smiling warmly to his cousin. Their mother looked thrilled at the suggestion, but Gabriel could see his own doubt mirrored in the gaze of his brother.
"We are family after all and there will be plenty to do over the next several weeks, especially with Christmas fast approaching."
As if she took his concern for something else, Gabriel's mother gripped hold of his good hand and squeezed his fingers comfortingly. "Do not worry,sweetheart. I am certain you will be recovered by then."
If he had been told a few days earlier that he might be unable to attend any Christmas festivities, he would have rejoiced but now the prospect and possibility that he would not be able to share the season with those he cared about made him feel nauseous.
"I cannot sit in bed and do nothing," Gabriel protested but the looks of all three of them around the bed made him purse his lips.
"There is little you can do with a wrenched shoulder and a broken arm," Jonathan reminded him, gesturing at his right arm. "With that one in particular, I doubt you could even hold a pen."
"Do not worry, Jonathan and Barnaby have already promised that they will help me to find good and wholesome entertainment for you while you convalesce," Lady Sutthers insisted with a smile. "This will be the perfect time for you both to get to know your cousin better."
"Yes,Madre, of course," Gabriel said with a smile through gritted teeth. Though he would have given anything to see his mother happy, he wasn't at all sure that extended to his cousin. And one thing that their treatment had taught him was to always be wary of family.
Chapter 9
In the weeks after his accident, Gabriel felt himself growing stir-crazy. With only his mother and brother for company, and Barnaby stopping in every so often to check on them, Gabriel found he had far too much time to think, and what he thought of most of the time was her.
Though he had not seen Miss Julia since that day upon the hill when against all his better judgement he had kissed her and felt the early move beneath his feet, she continued on at the forefront of his mind always and sometimes even plagued him in his dreams.
And in the moments when he was not intoxicated with thoughts of her, he found himself once more wondering why anyone would wish to stab him. Now that his memories of the attack were returning to him, he couldn’t help but think on how the man had swung for him a second time with the knife as he found himself falling toward the cobblestones in the road.
To him, a second attempt at stabbing was far more personal than the act of a poor pickpocket who was desperate for whatever was inside Gabriel’s jacket.
"Cheer up, brother," Jonathan insisted one afternoon. He had been sat reading a book aloud for them both to enjoy, though Gabriel would have much preferred to have been left alone to read it. Yet his mother insisted he do nothing with his hands unless it was the exercises given to him by the doctor in order to keep his motor skills functioning.
"Soon you will be up and about again, but until then, just enjoy the peace."
Gabriel sighed deeply, knowing his brother was right. At least while he was laid up, his mother could not try to force him to any more abhorrent social events or encourage him to endure countless torture at the hands of a society that would never fully accept his presence among them.
"I try, Jonathan, truly I do," Gabriel grumbled and, feeling as though he had kept his silence long enough, hoping that speaking her name might help ease his heartache, he told his brother, "But I find I am heartsick. I am unable to stop thinking of Miss Julia. Ever since our walk through the park, I have thought of her."
At first, his brother merely looked at him over the book with a raised eyebrow. Then, with a deep exhale, he lowered the book and nodded as if in agreement, as he said, "I can say in all honesty that I feel your pain, brother."
"Though you are not stuck abed, unable to do anything about it," Gabriel snapped, his voice low and dark, and Jonathan rolled his eyes at him.
