All the Things You Never Knew Read online

  “And to think I’ve been calling Lansing a bastard all along when I’m the real one,” Leon laughed. “He can throw it back in my face.”

  “And you can extend your fist to his in return if he dares,” Longsword put in. “You are not what you are known to be.”

  Leon just shook his head. “You have no idea.”

  “I don’t need ideas; I just know,” Longsword smiled. “Anyway,” he went on changing the subject. “If it’s fine with you I’ll be off to Somerset by noon and returning back in a day or two.”

  “Do what you have to do,” Leon said, pouring himself another glass of water. “Just keep your ears open.”

  Longsword merely laughed and nodded. “I will.”

  Leon feels a little insecure to have his two companions going away, but he would handle whatever he can.

  First on his list…Rose.

  Dawson House

  The Marquess of Lansing stood rather nervously as Rose approaches him and tugged uneasily at his cravat.

  You should be afraid, you rotten lord, Rose thought to herself as she sat down on the couch across from where he stood. She had expected this.

  Lord Lansing had called upon her early that morning, most predictably to apologize. Rose isn’t going to give in that easily if that’s what he’s planning.

  Lord Lansing cleared his throat and with a formal greeting bow, sat down across from her. “I’m guessing you’re still infuriated by yesterday’s…uh…incident.”

  Rose merely looked at him and scoffed. “You wish. I’ve forgotten it entirely overnight.” And she did if not fully, for she has other things to worry about. Whatever his lordship did is not really at her interest or concern.

  “That’s good,” Marcus said, looking more relieve. She would sure like to throw a tantrum but sees no use for it.

  “I have to make it clear that us men needs to go out elsewhere to release ourselves since we can’t stay trapped in as a celibate until we get leg-shackled,” he went on saying. “I’m hoping you will under–”

  “I get it,” Rose answered. She doesn’t want to waste time on such a topic.

  “Even better then!” the marquess cheered. It seems he wasn’t really into apologizing but trying to make the situation better with what he thinks to be a reasonable statement. “So I’m guessing our wedding would still go–”

  “No,” Rose cut in with a shook of her head. “Our wedding is to be put off.”

  “What–Why so?” he asked, eyes widened in disbelief. “We had the invitations made.”

  “I don’t think it’s the right time,” she answered, though that’s not really the reason. “I figure we should wait… a couple more months. I’ll ask Susy to send in apologetic letters to the recipients.”

  “Because of yesterday, isn’t it?”

  Quite obviously, she wanted to say, but shook her head. “No. Just a change of mind.”

  “Rose,” he said, reaching over to take her hand.

  Rose pulled back and said, “No.” She is not going to let him touch her. Sure she had liked him before and allowed him a hug or two with a kisses here and there, but now it‘s the total opposite.

  “I know I made you lost your trust in me, but yesterday the Duke of Hargate came and…well, he made an offer that I can’t deny,” Lord Lansing explained.

  “An offer you can’t deny, huh?” Rose raised a questionable eyebrow at him. “Too dally with some harlot? I think you made that choice yourself. His Grace couldn’t have forced you to.”

  “Well,” he tugged at his cravat again and cleared his throat. “He’s a duke, and you know it’s not good to decline–”

  “No explanation needed,” Rose said with a sighed. “Let’s space out for a few months. I don’t think marriage is a good idea at the moment.”

  “But I don’t–”

  “Please, or I’ll jilt you all together,” she answered, irritated that she didn’t think before she spoke.

  “You–”–he seem about to burst but stopped himself– “Now that’s a little overdoing don’t you think?” he said more calmly.

  “I see it the right thing to do, m’lord,” she answered, and with a wicked smile added, “And you can gain all the pleasures you want. I will not deny you of your satisfaction. Just don’t go digging in the wrong place.”

  “I guess I like that,” the marquess said after a moment of consideration, rubbing his hands together with a smile curved on his face.

  Rose can see it now with the look on his face that he is not one that she can put her trust or faith into–or rather spend the rest of her life with.

  “An agreement then, is it not?” she asked just to clarify things.

  “Fine,” he said. “But you have to promise not to be a fallen woman on our wedding night.”

  Not to be a fallen woman?

  Rose almost laughed at his lordship’s absurd demand. He has the right to go fuck around but she can’t? So unfair–not that she had planned to do such a thing, mind you. She can surely keep her virtue intact until their wedding night, except there’s not going to be a wedding–not with him anyway.

  Yesterday she had decided that she would make herself happy. She would marry and choose the one she loves. Her father is going to be disappointed, but she wants to–she has to. She spent the whole night lacking sleep thinking about her future. She had waited a whole decade for a moment she had been denied, and over a person she can never have and who would never truly accept her for whatever reason. But she would make it work.

  Besides, Leon had tried to tell her something, and that something sparks a little something that she can’t define in herself. If only he wasn’t so much of an idiot as to make himself drunk before confronting her. She had been angry, yes, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t listen. Well, on second thought, she might not have if he was sober so that’s out of the way. She would listen now if he decided to tell her again.

  “So how long are the few months that we’re holding the wedding off?” Lord Lansing asked her quite ecstatically. “Five? Seven? A year?”

  Rose hadn’t yet decided on that. “Half a year?” she replied with a shrug.

  “Fine with me,” Lord Lansing answered cheerfully. “Not that I don’t want to marry you, that is,” he added quickly as if to not make her doubt him from his excitement.

  She knows he was pleased with her proposal; she was too.

  “You may leave now, my lord,” she said as politely as she could to not make it sound like such a rude remark. “I will call upon you if I think otherwise.”

  “My pleasure then, Lady Rose,” he said, standing up to give her another formal bow. “Until we meet again.”

  Rose allowed him a kiss on the hand, and then led him off with a dismissal wave.

  “Nice day to you, m’lord.”

  She waited until he had left and jump up on her feet in joy.

  She did it!

  She had the advantage and she took it! Now she’s able to do everything she wishes, well, maybe not everything, but she’s free from the marquess to do what she needed to for a while.

  Next in her scheme, find Leon and make him speak! She has the perfect plan to make that work.

  “Is that his lordship that just went out?” came Susannah through the door into the sitting room where Rose was beaming. “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh, Susy!” Rose exclaimed at the sight of Lady Susannah and rush up to hug her. “I have a plan, Susy. A brilliant one.”

  “If it’s about his lordship, then don’t tell me,” said Susannah. “It would make me sick.”

  “No, silly,” she laughs. “I’m not marrying him anymore.”

  “What?” Susannah just stared at her blankly. “Are you sure?”

  Rose gave her a wicked smile and asked, “Susy, what do you think about writing apologetic letters to announce the end of my engagement to Marcus?”

  Susannah gasped and then returns the devious grin. “About time.”

  Leon had decided to seek out Ro
se that afternoon after sending Longsword off with a good luck on his trip to Somerset.

  He had been spying on her from a nearby tree across Dawson House, waiting for a moment he can speak to her alone. Yet, ladies like her can never go anywhere alone without a proper escort and he’s growing impatient waiting under the blazing sun.

  Time for Plan B.

  He jumped down from the tree and raced off behind another just a few feet from the lawn of Rose’s house. He feels like a devious thief trying not to get himself caught red-handed. Makes him feel like a half-witted fool too, but sometimes you have to be a fool to get to where you want

  Leon peeks out from behind the tree and scowled as he saw Rose walking around the Dawson Garden with her maid trailing along behind her.

  “Damn you honorable lady,” he hissed out loud.

  He looked around for a pebble or something to distract the maid away.

  Nothing. Dawson House was, for one thing, too spotless and clean. It’s as if the Viscount Herring put out orders for his servants to pick up every fallen leaves or twigs every few seconds.

  Fortunately, Leon had a silver coin in his pocket from his last bidding at a game with his friends and took it out. He looks around for a possible piece of distraction and spotted a flower vase placed out on the outdoor table. With a set aim at the target, he used all his force to throw the coin to break the vase.

  Unfortunately, the coin bounces off and hit the maid at the back of the head instead.

  “Oh hell!” Leon cursed at his bad aim. His sisters could have battered it.

  “Frances!” he heard Rose gasped as she ran over to the falling maid on her knees, covering her head.

  She said something he couldn’t really make out and took the maid inside.

  Damn, he blew it!

  Or not, for Rose rushed back out to search around the grass for something.

  Leon gave a sigh of relief and blew out a whistle before she leaves again.

  She scan around in search of the sound and then he saw what appears to be a smile on her face as her gaze set upon him.

  She appears to be in a good mood, despite what had happened the day before. And if he’s not mistaken, she’s quite pleased to see him. He’s quite overjoyed to see her as well. He had always been.

  She slowly strolls over and pushes open the tiny gate that separated them.

  “You look…quite in high spirit today,” Leon beamed.

  “Same to you,” she said, though not as pleasantly. “Did you hit Frances?”

  “What?” He was lost for a moment and then realizes she was talking about the maid. “Sorry,” he answered. “I had to get her out of the way.”

  “By throwing a stone at her?”

  “Can’t we discuss this in private?” he asked, looking around. “Someone might see us, you know?”

  “Oh, of course.”

  She looked back at the house and motion for him to take the lead.

  It surprises Leon to see her so obedient and calm. Usually she would have protested or argued with him about how all the scandals in the world would arise and the ton would look down upon her but today was different. He can’t seem to make anything out of her mood, for she changes it every time without warnings. She can be all jovial and then like a blink of an eye turn into a flesh eating serpent–an exquisite one too, that is. He rather likes it.

  Leon drags her off behind another set of trees across the road, out of sight, and pin her against one of them.

  Biting back her lips, she looked skeptically at him and waited for an answer to her previous question.

  “You seem different today,” he said instead. She does, and it bothers him.

  “New day, new feelings,” she replied coolly. “Why, you’d rather I be mad? I could if you want.”

  “I’ll pass,” he answered quickly. He doesn’t want to wake the serpent.

  How Rose would kill him if she had known of the metaphor he had made out of her.

  She slips a hand to his waistcoat and snapped up a button he had forgotten. “So…you haven’t answered my question,” she said, looking back up at him.

  Her eyes gave a sparkle that distracted his sanity. He just wanted to ravish her there and forget everything else.

  “I–”

  It was difficult to focus on his thoughts with her staring at him like a Goddess from above. Her hair was neatly pinned up in shining curls and she wore a lacey blue gown with ruffles on the cuffs, brightening up her feature.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” he managed, trapping her against the tree with his arms.

  “So you threw a stone at Frances?” she said again with a frown.

  “She was following you like some bodyguard and it annoys the heck out of me,” he answered. “I thought I would rage out and kill her.”

  A whimsical laugh escaped from Rose and she lightly punched him on the shoulder. “You idiot. She does serve as my bodyguard, you know?”

  “Of course,” he nodded with a smile. “But I have to say, I wasn’t planning to hit her. I was…having a bad aim and didn’t hit what I had intended to hit. Plus, I didn’t throw a stone or anything.”

  “Really?” She looked at him amusingly and trails a finger along his cravat.

  Hell, she’s up to something.

  “Stop that,” he said, grabbing her hand away before everything goes the wrong way.

  She chuckle lightly and face him again. “Don’t you have something you want to talk about?’

  “Yes.” He wasn’t sure if he would be able to say it when she’s acting like this.

  “Go on then,” she said, leaning back on the tree and smoothing her gown. “I have something wonderful to tell you as well.”

  Wonderful? Is that why she had been acting so overly off from her normal self?

  “Perhaps you should tell me of your ‘wonderful’ news then,” Leon decided.

  “You sure?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

  “I’ll be pleased to hear,” he replied.

  She gave out a deep breath and flashes a smile at him again. “Okay,” she started. “I’ve decided–”–she paused and sighed– “–I’ve decided that Lord Lansing and I should get marry by the end of next week.”

  “What?”

  That was what she called ‘wonderful?’

  “I’ve made up my mind,” she went on. “After yesterday’s incident, I figure that I don’t want to lose the man I love to another woman again.”

  She…loved that Lansing?

  “So,” she continued, “I’ve decided that Lord Lansing and I should get on with the wedding as soon as possible since we…consummated our relationship.”

  “Consummated what?” No, it couldn’t mean what he thinks, could it?

  “Don’t be so surprise,” she jeered. “You know Lord Lansing and I are to wed anyway. Why not just get it over with? That way, he will be mine and I will be his in name, body, and soul. We would become one. Any woman can have him, but he will always be mine.”

  “You–you’re lying!” Leon bellowed incredulously. “He–he betrayed your love last night!”

  “Just as you did a decade ago!” she snapped.

  That caught Leon’s tongue for a moment but he went on.

  “I didn’t mean to betray you! I told you that!”

  “I don’t care!” Rose answered. “I was angry with Marcus, yes–”– so now Lansing is Marcus– “But after you left and he came to apologize early in the morning, I…” She trailed off as to check his mood and then went on. “I forgave him and we made a decision magically like that–” she snapped her fingers– “–and consummated our relationship and entrusted each other with loyalty and faith for the rest of our life.”

  “No!” he shouted in sudden anger as he threw a fist at the tree, just inches from Rose’s face. “You didn’t!”

  God, tell him she didn’t. He didn’t just tell her that he loved her the other day just to face this. It pains him to think of that ass Lansing touching her or doing
anything beyond that.

  “Leon!” She grabbed his hand to examine his fist that was scraped with blood and kissed it gently. “Why are you hurting yourself? What’s done is done. Things can’t turn back to what it used to be.”

  He pulled his hand free from hers and turned away. Never in his life had he ever been this furious. If what Rose said was true then his mission and everything he had set out to do is at ruin.

  Hell blasts him. He was an ass. If only he had told her the truth. If only he hadn’t back out. If only he told her of his story. If only he…

  Everything was too late now. Everything he had wanted her to know, everything he had wished for her to hear is going to remain unspoken and trap inside his heart forever. Everything he had dreamed as a reality would remain a fantasy, and that would be that.

  “Good…bye, Rose,” he said, clenching his fist to hold his temper down. And this time, he meant it. He didn’t want to say those words but is left with no other choice. After his duty is over, he will leave her…forever.

  And Lansing…

  He has got to be grateful that his life is being spared.

  But for his father’s crime...

  That son of a bitch would still pay!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Rose watches as Leon strolled off and smiled to herself.

  Ah, how easy it was for her to trick him. She had thought for it to be hard but it was not. In fact, her acting was pretty good. He fell right into it. This should teach him not to hide things from her in the future, though the way he had talked shows that he’s not going to bother ever talking to her again. He will come around eventually. The truth can never hide. She didn’t mean to sound like such a tart and say the words that she did. If he was wise enough, he will know that she made the whole thing up.

  What makes Leon think she will forgive that Lord Lansing so easily when she couldn’t even forgive him for over a decade? He must have been daft.

  “Leon,” she sigh his name out loud. She wanted to run and stop him from leaving, but she have to go with her plan. It pains her to see him go and hear his awful good-byes again and again. It tears everything inside her. Every little thing.

  “You will find out in time, my love,” she said out with a grin as Leon disappeared from her sight. “I have set my cap back on you.”