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"Then who?" Julia asked, her brain feeling even more fuzzy as she tried to remove all thoughts of her own affairs to concentrate on Chelsea's.
"The painter himself!" Chelsea exclaimed. "It is an engagement gift!"
"Whoa! An engagement gift? Slow down! Who is engaged and how do you know who the painter is?"
Chelsea looked as though she was about to jump for joy, and it quickly became clear that her tears were those of pure happiness. "I am engaged! To Mr. Tatford, to my anonymous artist! It has been him this entire time, and he has asked me for my hand in marriage!"
The elation coming from her friend was almost exhausting, and she felt as though she might well be rocked off her feet by it. As though she sensed it, Chelsea gripped her hands tighter and urged her over to the couch opposite the one where the painting was propped.
"Isn't this wonderful?" Chelsea asked, though her question really sounded like more of a statement to Julia's ears.
"Yes, yes! Of course it is!" Julia responded, squeezing her friend's hands tightly. "I am truly so happy for you."
It was true. She was happy for her friend. But still there was a small part of her that was terrified and she couldn't help but think,how do I tell you that your betrothed may be in danger?
Sitting there, only half listening to how Mr. Tatford had come and asked Chelsea to marry him before revealing the painting and that he was the mysterious painter she had been in love with all these years, Julia couldn't help but think she had no right to rain on her friend's happiness right then, and so she decided it was best to keep her mouth shut.
Chapter 18
Though Gabriel was shocked by his brother's hurry to propose to Miss Chelsea, he was most definitely pleased for him that she had accepted. And in the days afterwards, Gabriel felt his usual feelings towards Christmas beginning to lift and his happiness finally returning. He found himself daydreaming of what had happened in the carriage the last time he had seen Miss Julia.
He hoped that one day wedding bells in his future. Even more so, he found himself thinking of whether their father would have approved of their matches. He was certain that the late earl would have loved Miss Chelsea, but could he truly say the same for Miss Julia? Was it enough that he loved her to make her his countess?
It was matters like that he was thinking over when his brother hurried into the library holding a wad of letters aloft. "Mother's response has arrived and there was something extra."
Looking up from his desk, half startled by his brother's sudden appearance and even more shocked at his words, he automatically held out his hand to accept the still-closed envelope, which his brother pulled away from the rest of the open ones.
"Mama says she is so pleased with my news that she is making plans to return home immediately," Jonathan explained even as Gabriel reached for his gold letter opener in the shape of a small sword with a jewel-encrusted hilt and popped open the wax seal with it. The handwriting on the front of the envelope was quite unfamiliar to him and though he had hoped that perhaps the letter had come from Miss Julia, he knew immediately that it had not.
"It was enclosed with mama's," Jonathan explained. Gabriel unfolded the letter. "She says it is from our grandmother and that she wished us to read it together. Do read it aloud."
Unable to believe it, Gabriel knew there was only one way to find out and so he began to read it, "My dearest grandsons, Jonathan I am so pleased with your news and greatly look forward to meeting you and my future granddaughter-in-law in the hopefully near future.
Your mother suggests to me that the two of you have been moving in society in leaps and bounds, making new connections, and I hope to hear of wedding bells in your future too, Gabriel. I am sorry that I have not written sooner. I was fearful of how my letters would be received. Having spoken and spent much time with your mother, I am hopeful of our reconciliation. All my love, your grandmother, the Dowager Lady Sutthers."
When Gabriel looked up, his mouth agape, he saw that his brother's expression was a reflection of his own. Never in a million years would Gabriel have guessed for such affectionate words to come from the grandmother who had never shown a single ounce of willingness to acknowledge their existence, let alone meet them.
"Well, it appears that our mother has worked her Italian charm upon the true head of the Tatford house.” Jonathan chuckled, looking extremely pleased with the fact. "Maybe she will attend the wedding!"
Though his brother was hopeful and Gabriel could tell why, there was still doubt in his mind. His father had brought him up to be much too suspicious of people's motives and he was no longer certain whether or not it was serving him well.
"You read it yourself. She hopes there shall be wedding bells in your future soon also," Jonathan continued and Gabriel realised he had never heard his brother quite so elated. "Do you think you will be sending her a letter with good news of your own soon?"
The way that Jonathan wiggled his eyebrows at him was more than a little annoying to Gabriel. By now, his brother ought to have known that he only indulged information he thought important to share. As of yet, he had none. At least, he was scared to share any for fear it might influence the decision he had yet to fully commit to.
"Unlike you, brother, I am not in any rush to see myself walking down the aisle," Gabriel scowled, placing the letter from their grandmother on the top of his correspondence pile on his desk.
"Oh, I am sorry. Have I hit a nerve?" Jonathan chuckled, looking more and more mischievous with every word. "Have you and the beautiful Miss Julia had a falling out of some kind?"
Gabriel cringed at that. He did not like the idea that his brother had noticed Miss Julia's beauty. Though it was obvious to all who looked upon her, Gabriel often wished he could keep it for himself, at least until he could be certain that she was his.
"Nothing bad has happened between us," Gabriel assured his brother.On the contrary, our last meeting was quite the opposite.Every time he closed his eyes, he could still see the pleasure on her face and feel how it had felt to bury himself deep inside her, using the rocking of the moving carriage to help him with every thrust. He could still sense how receptive she had been, how willing, and how much she had wanted him.
In all his adult years, even after a great deal of time with Miss Flowers and a few other women before her, being inside a woman had never felt like that before. He had never felt as though he was melting into her, losing himself so that they might become one entity, locked together in pleasure and sexual torment. And he so longed to feel it all over again.
Yet he could not help but think,I should not have allowed myself to disrespect her like that.It was the only thing that had stopped him from going to her immediately, the only thing that stopped him from being able to think about their future until he was utterly certain that she did not regret what had happened in the carriage that morning.
Yet so far, he had heard nothing from her. He had received no letters and had no knocks upon his door requesting an audience. Perhaps he had been wrong, and she had not felt the same way that he had.
