AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief when he heard skates moving away from them once more and he knew his brother was busily drawing their cousin away so that he and Miss Julia could slip as gracefully as possible from the snow without too much of a fuss.
“Shall we?” Miss Julia suggested, still laid atop of him, and Gabriel could not help but smile back at her.
“Miss Julia, I would gladly help you up, but I find I am stuck,” he pointed out, trying to shift beneath her, testing the firmness of the snow beneath him. It was hard-packed on either side of them, creating walls of snow, making it almost impossible for him to move with her atop him.
Again, they laughed together and Gabriel braced himself when Miss Julia pressed her palms against his chest and hoisted herself up and off him. The moment her body was gone from his, he felt a wave of disappointment and the urge to pull her right back down on top of him. It was only the knowledge of all the other skaters in the area that caused him to stop and think about the matter.
“Miss Julia! Let me help you!” Jonathan’s voice sounded at a distance but soon the sound of his brother’s skates drew near and Gabriel knew that even though he had dragged their cousin away, his brother had been eagerly awaiting the moment when they would need help to discreetly climb back out onto the ice.
Almost as soon as Gabriel righted himself, he saw that Barnaby had taken over guiding Miss Chelsea around the rink. Yet the young woman’s gaze told Gabriel that her attention was still entirely upon his brother and Barnaby looked quite devastated by the fact. Clearly, the English gentleman was not used to having the attention of women drawn away from him.
“That was a close one, brother,” Jonathan whispered into his ear as soon as he joined them back out on the ice. “I am sure cousin Barnaby would be all too happy to bring news of your fraternising in the snow to the rest of our adoring family.”
Gabriel groaned deep in his throat, knowing that his brother was right. Yet there was little he could have done about ending up in the snow with Miss Julia, and he could not bring himself to regret what had happened afterwards.I shall take that kiss to my grave,he thought, remembering once more how it had been her face he had seen when he had believed himself about to die.Christmas might not be so bad after all. At least I am here to see it.Though he couldn’t help but wish, his father was as well.
Later that night, Gabriel and Jonathan returned home with their cousin, Barnaby, in tow. He had been adamant upon joining them for a nightcap so that he might be able to check up on his aunt, who had been home alone all evening. Gabriel had barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the man for saying such things, as though their mother was a poor and fragile old woman who could do nothing to entertain herself for an evening. It was clear their cousin did not know her at all.
Yet, Lady Francesca Sutthers was pleased to greet him all the same and Gabriel found himself stuck in the drawing room with them while his brother slunk off to bed after a little too much warm apple cider.
“You must tell me, Barnaby, have you had any word from my mother-in-law as to when she might agree to see me?” his mother asked after several minutes of small talk about the skating party and the evening's events. There was a desperation in his mother’s tone that made Gabriel feel sick, though he was hopeful that his cousin did not know their mother well enough to hear it.
Barnaby waited until he had taken a sip of his mulled wine to answer. “Forgive me, Auntie, but I am afraid my grandmother is still quite vexed by the situation. I do not believe she has ever come to terms with any of it and she still grieves her son also.”
“I miss him also,” Lady Sutthers pointed out. Gabriel’s heart clenched at the clear grief in his mother’s tone, her insistence at wanting to reconcile with the family of her late husband, perhaps in some way to return a part of him to her that she felt lost.
“Yes, yes, I do not doubt that you do,” Barnaby said and to his credit, he could at least pretend to look as though her grief pained him too. Though Gabriel was certain he could see right through his cousin. He knew all too many men like him, opportunistic and greedy. He would not let his guard down around the man he had already decided upon that long ago.
“But, Lady Sutthers, you must understand that the grief caused all those years ago has not gone away. It has festered like a sore wound, and I fear it may only be growing worse with your presence here in England.”
“There is little we can do about that,” Gabriel pointed out, unable to hold his tongue any longer. “I am earl here now and my place in order to do my job as earl is here in England.”
Barnaby nodded, his blonde hair falling forward slightly before he brushed it back with his ring-adorned fingers.
“Perhaps if I were to pay a visit she might see that we are not nearly so different as she believed all those years ago?” Lady Sutthers pressed, taking a sip of her own mulled wine without taking her eyes off Barnaby. Gabriel knew that his mother was watching the man closely for any sign that he might be holding something back from her.
Barnaby shook his head again and sighed deeply. “I do not think that would be a good idea, Auntie. I think that would only antagonise her.”
Gabriel was just trying to think of something to say when the door behind his cousin opened to reveal the young maid that his mother had sent off to the kitchen to bring them up something for supper. The girl had been in the employ of their family ever since they had arrived in England and yet Gabriel felt as though this was perhaps the first time he was seeing her properly.
She curtseyed and smiled at Lady Sutthers, placing a tray of cold meats, cheese, and crackers upon the table between them all. And yet it was not her smile at his mother that concerned him, it was the way that she blushed when Barnaby thanked her, the way she gave him an extra deep curtsey before she slipped back to the edge of the room to await further instructions.
Though he told himself he was imagining it, Gabriel could not miss the look that passed between the two of them.Perhaps there is another reason Barnaby is attending the house so often,he thought, even as their conversation continued. He sat silently, only pretending to listen as he thought of all the times his cousin had been in attendance at the house during his recovery.
He had heard many a time that Barnaby had been to the house, though he had rarely seen him with his own eyes and so he couldn’t help but think,what was he doing during his visits?Somehow thinking of that was much easier than listening to his mother’s conversation with Barnaby. Perhaps it was because the maid had far more of a chance with his cousin than his mother had with their grandmother.
Believing that any of the Tatfords will ever accept us is lunacy,he realised, and not for the first time. And now more than ever, he longed to go to bed and leave them to their endless and unresolved conversation, his mind skirting back to the skating party and the kiss he had shared with Miss Julia in the snow.I can go another Christmas without my grandmother, but I cannot go without her.
Chapter 13
For Julia, sitting in the drawing room with Chelsea at her side, awaiting her mother's departure into town was torture. After all, she couldn’t very well talk about all that had happened the night before with her mother there. They had both shared the usual news of the skating party, who had skated with who, who had drunk a little too much, and who had won the snowman competition between the children.
Though they both failed to mention their own skating with the Tatford brothers and Julia's own incident of ending up in the embankment with her skating partner. Just thinking about it caused Julia's cheeks to blush, and she was more than a little relieved that she had always been a bookworm, leaving her with an excuse for hiding behind the pages of the book she was holding.
"My lady, the carriage is prepared," the butler announced. Julia felt a wave of relief even as Chelsea tensed with excitement beside her, clearly as eager to be free to talk as she was.
“Well then, girls, as much as I have enjoyed hearing all about last night’s events, I am afraid I must be off,” Viscountess Chalmers announced as she rose from her seat and allowed the butler to hand her hat to her. “There is much to do, presents to buy and people to see, you see.”
“Oh, yes, Mama,” Julia assured with a nod.
