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From their clothes, she could tell that they were wealthy. And from their colouring and hints of an accent, she was certain that they weren't entirely English. Though she was extremely uncertain whether they were businessmen, gentlemen, or noblemen.
"Do not be so coy, brother," Jonathan warned, "The ladies have a right to know who their rescuers are."
Quickly, before his brother could say another word, Gabriel said, "I am Gabriel Tatford, and this is my brother, Jonathan Tatford. We are both in your service, ladies, especially as it is our fault you came to such harm."
Tatford?Julia certainly recognised that name. She had heard it whispered several times. She rarely paid attention to the gossip around town. She still could not put a definite finger on the identities of the two men.
"You have the thanks of Miss Julia Pritchard and Miss Chelsea Walker," Julia responded quickly, offering her friend a pleading glance not to give her away as the daughter of a viscount. One whose name was all about London due to the huge dowry he had placed upon her head in desperation to see her married. All so that the prospects of their younger daughter would not be left to languish for too long.
"Miss Pritchard, Miss Walker, please allow me on behalf of myself and my brother to apologise for having made your day more awkward," Gabriel insisted and again Jonathan lifted Chelsea's knuckles to his lips as if in agreement with his brother's words.
“Oh, on the contrary, Mr Tatford, I do not believe you have made it more awkward, merely more interesting.” Chelsea smirked back at him and Julia breathed a half-sigh of relief that her friend had indeed taken her pleading gaze on board.
"To answer your question, miss," Gabriel continued, "we currently reside in London with our mother. We were just travelling home from our solicitors when our carriages collided."
"I do hope your business there was nothing too stressful," Julia commented, feeling slightly awkward at the thought they might have made the brothers' already stressful day even more so by having not chosen to take Bond Street home instead.
"It was nothing too serious, no, miss," Gabriel assured her with a smile and the way it caught her eye made her turn entirely to look at him, her heart stopping for a second at the bright look in his gaze.
Does he truly not recognise me from the bookstore?She wondered, thinking that maybe she ought to mention it and her love of Locke to see whether they might pick up an earlier conversation.He has not mentioned it.
Yet all too soon the carriage was drawn to a halt and the sound of horses’ hooves silenced. One glance through the lace curtain told her that they had arrived outside Chelsea's townhouse in Grosvenor Square. Disappointed clawed at her stomach once more. Her discomfort in the face of two handsome men was only just beginning to ease and she would have liked a chance to discuss their meeting in the bookstore.
"Won't you come inside and share some refreshments?" Chelsea suggested even as the door of the carriage was pulled open by the coachman and a hand appeared to help them out. "It is the least we can do to thank you for your generosity and I am sure it will take the servants a few minutes at least to collect all of our parcels from your trunk."
"We are happy to wait," Gabriel began to decline, but this time it was Jonathan's turn to offer a warning shot with his boot, and Julia had to bite back laughter to see just how close the two brothers were. Their relationship reminded her a little of herself and Chelsea. All their knowing looks and little jabs of elbows and toes whenever they weren't quite on the same page resembled actions she and Chelsea had often exchanged.
"We would be very grateful for some refreshments, Miss Chelsea. We are quite parched," Jonathan assured her.
"Though we would not wish to impose and I am sure your parents would not wish to be disturbed unannounced," Gabriel put in and Julia's stomach clenched at the thought that perhaps he could not wait to get away from there, and from her.
Still, she found herself coming up with an excuse. "Chelsea's mother would never forgive us if we allowed our rescuers to go unrewarded."
"Well then, we must not disappointment three women!" Jonathan announced, and before his brother could protest again, he began to help Chelsea from the carriage, shooing the coachman away so that he could give her his own hand to guide her down the steps from the outside.
Julia was relieved when Gabriel followed after them and surprised when she found him offering up his own hand rather than leaving the coachman to deal with her. A thrill of pleasure and excitement surged through her hand and up her arm into her chest the moment that she laid her palm in his.
Even through her glove, she could feel the warmth of his hand and it sent a tingle running throughout her entire body. Only once had she ever felt the slightest inkling of something like that before having touched Gabriel's hand, and that had been short-lived when she had realised the gentleman was only after her dowry. But this was different. She felt this tingling every time she so much as looked at the man before her and it made her heart race deliciously painfully.
"Thank you, Mr Tatford," she said with a smile as she moved down the steps as gracefully as her awkward skirts would allow her. Upon the last step, she felt her foot slip and alarm flashed through her seconds before she found herself landing in Mr Tatford's arms.
"I've got you," he whispered into her ear in such a husky voice that she longed to hear it again. "Steady yourself, miss. I have you."
You do,Julia realised with slight alarm. She forced it all away and straightened herself up, stepping out of his arms with a smile of gratitude. "Thank you, sir."
"You are welcome," he responded. His gaze warmed to her as he smiled back. "I could not deliver you to the door, only to have you fall and harm yourself at the very last moment."
Together they chuckled a little at his words and Julia's cheeks heated though this time it was more out of pleasure than awkwardness.
"I very much appreciate it, Mr Tatford," she said, offering a little curtsey. When she rose again, she found him meeting her gaze and felt herself locked into place as though he had wrapped a heavy chain around her and secured it with an anchor. Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her throat. She thought that she needed neither so long as she was gazing into those striking forest green irises.
"Are the two of you coming inside or not?" Chelsea called from the top steps of the porch and Julia shook herself from whatever spell he had cast upon her, quickly coming to realise that her best friend and his brother had already stepped inside the house.
"Please, allow me to escort you in, Miss Pritchard?" Gabriel suggested, offering her his arm. Still feeling a little flustered, Julia did not protest and instead slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, allowing him to guide her up the porch steps on shaking legs. She thought that had he not been there, she might have slipped all over again.
They were barely in the house, being helped by the butler and a maid to remove their coats and hats, when the familiar sound of Chelsea's mother's footsteps came hurrying down the hall toward them.
"Oh, good heavens, girls!" Mrs Walker commented even before she properly rounded the corner. "I was beginning to think the two of you had gotten lost."
