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Inside it read:
Dearest Miss Julia,
I have greatly missed your company these last weeks, and I have wanted so desperately to contact you with no hope of doing so. I wish to dispel any rumours that may have been floating around and tell you that although my accident was terrible; I am well and truly on the mend.
I also wish to mention our last meeting and hope that I did not make you feel uncomfortable. It was not my intention and if I did I sincerely apologise though I cannot bring myself to regret what happened between us as thinking of it has been the only thing that have kept me going while I have been bed bound these last weeks.
I hope that you have found plenty more to read since last we met and look forward to discussing that which has occupied your time when next we hopefully meet.
Sincerely
Gabriel Tatford
Though the words were not entirely intimate or longlasting, they were still enough to bring a tear to Julia's eye. She clutched the paper to her chest after reading them over several times and, closing her eyes, she breathed deeply, feeling as though the words were reaching right into her chest.
He has not forgotten me nor our last meeting!She realised with great elation. Theurge to respond overwhelmed her, and she hurried from her bed to do so.
In the weeks that followed, Julia was pleased to receive correspondence from the earl through his brother and Chelsea, returning her own through similar means. Though it was a decidedly longer process, it was much safer than running the risk of her mother and father finding out, especially with all the rumours that continued to fly about the Tatford brothers.
Though with every letter she received, Julia found she had to deny those rumours more and more. The Gabriel Tatford that she was coming to know through ink and paper was decidedly much different to the one the rest of society seemed to think that they knew.
And she was pleased to offer him comfort in his dark days in the form of poems and small exempts from books she read over the weeks. His correspondence suggested that her letters were the only thing keeping him from tearing his own hair out with boredom.
Knowing that he had such beautiful and glossy hair, she could not allow that to happen. Although his own letters were happy and intimate and warmed her soul like a soothing balm, she could not help but feel excitement for the day when he would finally be well enough for her to lay eyes upon him again.
Chapter 11
It was early December by the time that Julia finally received word through Chelsea that the earl was well enough to have visitors. From his letters, she had come to realise that he had been well enough for quite some time, though it appeared to be his mother's overprotective nature that had left him behind closed doors for so long.
Yet the brothers appeared to have come across a rare opportunity. Their mother had finally accepted dinner at a friend's house that would leave her gone for an entire weekend in the countryside. All too eager to finally see him again, she had accepted his invitation to visit immediately.
It felt as though it happened in an instant. One minute she was preparing to write another letter in the hopes it would find him well and in the next moment Chelsea had practically barrelled into her bedroom like a whirlwind and announced with a piece of paper in hand, “We are invited to join the Earl of Sutthers and his brother for tea this very afternoon!”
Julia was extremely relieved that her mother and father had left the house to make her usual visits as she was certain that one if not the both of them would have heard her friend. She could only imagine how her mother might faint and how her father would grow pale at the thought of their daughter being anywhere near two such scandalous men.
“Is it true?” Julia asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. Though it had only been around six weeks, it felt as though it had been a lifetime since she had last seen the earl. The thought of finally laying eyes upon him after all this time, after so many letters back and forth, made her feel quite giddy with excitement.
“Yes, look!” Chelsea responded, and she shoved the letter she had been holding into Julia’s hand. Upon seeing it, Julia could see that the letter was from Mr. Tatford stating that his brother was once more well enough to see visitors and he wished to invite them for afternoon tea at their home on the outskirts of London while their mother and most of the household were away.
“Well, doesn’t that sound a little risque?” Julia asked, chuckling slightly as she wiggled her eyebrows at her friend. Though she knew it wasn’t really something to joke about, she couldn’t help but feel as though it was the absolute best circumstance for them to see the brothers again.
After all, with too many people about, it was extremely difficult to have any form of a private conversation. If she were forced to go back to holding her tongue and guarding what she said, she might wish to return to the days of written correspondence between them because at least then she would know what he had written was entirely truthful. At least, she hoped it was.
“Yes, well, I think we both know a little something of overbearing mothers and why they would wait until she was gone to invite us over,” Chelsea said, scowling at Julia. The two of them broke into laughter then, thinking of all the times they’d had to hide things from their own overbearing mothers. “It appears that even earls and their brothers are not entirely safe from those who bore them.”
By the time they reached Tatford House, Julia was more than a little relieved that there were not many people around. Even in the carriage, she found herself overcome with nerves. Her palms were sweating so badly that her gloves were sticking to her hands and making them itch.
She was hot under the collar and wished that she hadn’t worn such a thick dress even though London was now in the deep grips of winter. She tugged on the scarf about her neck and tried her hardest to breathe deeply even though she was trembling and breathless and quite sure she was going to do or say something to mess up all the hard work she had put into her correspondence over the last few weeks.
“I am sure everything will be fine,” Chelsea said, gripping hold of Julia’s hand where she had been sitting silently beside her in the carriage. She squeezed hold of her fingers tightly and squeezed with reassurance until Julia finally forced a smile.
“It has just been so long,” she admitted, unable to stop her voice from trembling just as badly as she was.
“Well, Jonathan assures me that he has not changed a bit and that he is very well considering all that has happened, so I imagine that we shall all have a wonderful time,” Chelsea assured her with another squeeze.
The carriage gave a lurch as it was pulled around a corner and both women stopped talking, turning instead to the windows on either side of them to glance out at their surroundings. The change from high hedges to open lawns suggested that they were almost at their destination and Julia clenched Chelsea’s hand harder in return as excitement overwhelmed her anxiety.
When she blinked her eyes closed, and she found she could already imagine what the earl might look like now. She hoped that her friend was right and that he hadn’t changed too much since last they had met.
