All the Things You Never Knew

by Angealica Hewley

  “I’m not going anywhere until I see the lady he’s marrying. Viscount Herring’s daughter, is it? The old man doesn’t know what he’s doing if he lets Leon marries his daughter. We all know you all are bastards!”

  “Excuse me!” Rose bellowed from the door as she heard the insult. “This is my family you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, so you’re the chit!” Delilah went over and stood before Rose, scanning her with disgust. “Ugh! Look at you. So thin and plump in all the wrong places. I can’t believe Leon wanted you.”

  “Don’t insult my friend, Delilah,” Lady Susannah said, glaring at the woman. “Or you won’t be making it home.”

  “Oh, yeah. Try me!” Delilah challenged.

  “Why you–”

  Lady Susannah leapt forward and so did Miss Stanford. However, before either of them could touch one another, one of the little children threw a ball and hit Delilah right on the bridge of her nose, sending her twirling face down into the bowl of punch on the table.

  “Theodore!” Avangelene scolded, throwing the ball back at the young boy. “Be more careful!”

  Phoenix and Susannah tried not to laugh but failed miserably as Namine and Lavender send away the little children.

  Rose gasped and ran with a handkerchief to help wipe off the dripping sticky juice from Delilah’s face only to get push away.

  “Don’t touch me!” snapped Delilah angrily. “You may have Leon now, but don’t be so happy. I’ll make sure your life becomes nothing more than a miserable hell!”

  She turned and headed toward the carriage that brought her, but tripped over the little stool that one of the little girls had used to stand up on, and fell flat on her face.

  “Miss Stanford, are you all right?” came the footman at the carriage as he scurries to help her up.

  “Ugh! I don’t ever want to come to this dreadful place again!” she brawled, stomping into the carriage and banging her head on the side before slamming the door shut.

  The footman hurried up to his seat and whipped the horses away before his mistress gets any madder.

  “You should have slapped her silly,” Susannah said to Rose when the carriage was out of sight. “And you Miss Heartilys shouldn’t even have let her step on the pavement.”

  “We do have to be considerate of the children,” Avangelene grinned, setting out the food.

  “And Leon told us to not bother with empty-headed females,” Phoenix answered. “Miss Stanford sure is an empty-headed one.”

  “Let us not mind that little intrusion,” Namine said, sorting out the saucers and tea cups. “We have our new sister to welcome officially. Welcome, Rose. You are no worse or better than any of us. We are all the same.”

  Rose nearly burst into tears at the sound of her name without the ‘Lady’ title coming from Namine. She had never felt so at home, so part of the family, so very blissful.

  “Hey, look, it’s a grandpa!” cried the little children as they all rush over to an arriving coach.

  Rose and the ladies look up to find that it was Viscount Herring, her father.

  Three days after they had returned from Leicester, her father had gotten better and apologized to Leon about everything.

  The Duke of Hargate–having to be the duke–was able to simulate a threat and scared the viscount into granting Leon the right to marry Rose. He knew there’s going to be a scandal about it, but with a man that loves his daughter this much, how could he resist not risking it?

  “Papa!” Rose picked up her skirt and ran to greet her father.

  “Rose.” He got out and kissed her on the cheek. “How are you, my girl?”

  “Very well, Papa,” she answered, giving him a hug.

  “And where is that future son-in-law of mine?” he asked, looking about the place. “He didn’t leave you already, did he?”

  Rose hesitated, not quite sure what to say until Avangelene interjected by asking if he would like to come and have some refreshments.

  “I’ll like that,” he answered, forgetting the question as Avangelene led him along.

  “Grandpa, grandpa, tell us a story,” said two of the boys from the group, one having to be Faelan.

  “Miss Vange said old grandpas tells the best story,” said Faelan. “Didn’t you, Miss Vange?”

  Avangelene patted Faelan on the head and said, “Yes, but his lordship is not an old grandpa.”

  “He’s the lord of a ship?” Faelan asked at the sound of the word ‘lordship’.

  “Well–”

  “Hey, come, come!” Faelan shouted to the other children and pointed to Lord Herring. “He’s a real lord of a ship! A real one!”

  The viscount laughed and look at Avangelene. “I say your boy here may need a lesson or two to understand the term.”

  “Oh, Faelan’s actually really bright,” said Avangelene. “His obsession with pirates just kind of got carried away.”

  “Are all these children yours?” Lord Herring asked. “They seem to like you a great deal.”

  “No, no,” Avangelene said amused as she move the children along.

  “Silly, Papa,” Rose said, moving around to sit in a chair across from him. “They’re little pupils at the Heartily Academy.”

  “Are they?” The viscount looks around and smiled. “They are a good young bunch.”

  “I say it’s time we eat,” said Phoenix as she joins them. “I’m famished.”

  “Yes,” Susannah agreed after curtsying to Lord Herring. “I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

  “We have to hurry before the men comes home,” Namine said. “They will totally eat every last morsel on here and we’ll have nothing left but the crumbs.”

  “The crumbs are only if we’re lucky,” Lavender added, merrily pouring out the tea. “Eight brothers are really hard to feed.”

  “Where is my son-in-law?” Viscount Herring asked Rose again.

  “Well, he’s…” Rose didn’t quite know how to answer, fearing that her father might get mad at the mention of Leon gambling now at some tavern.

  “They said they were going to go to old George’s tavern and rob the rich to give to the poor,” Avangelene put in to save her. “They’re leaving us ladies in peace for a couple hours.”

  Rose thought her father would be angry but he only smile and said, “That’s very good then.”

  Avangelene winked at Rose and walks off to line the children up for lunch.

  “I see you’ll be very happy here,” her father said to her after a while. “You have witty, charming sister-in-laws who seems very loving and protective. They’ll look out after you.”

  Rose looked at the Heartily Sisters and couldn’t help agreeing that she will be very happy and loved indeed.

  EPILOGUE

  “We can’t do this now, Leon,” Rose protested as Leon dragged her

  into his study and locked the door behind them. “We have guests.” “Don’t worry,” he said, moving his fingers to undo the button of

  her ball gown. “I told Avange to play the hostess. They won’t even

  realize that we’re gone.”

  A whole month had went by since Leon and Rose’s wedding, and

  tonight they host a ball at the Heartily Manor to reunite friends and

  families and make new acquaintance.

  “But we can’t just leave everyone and–”

  Leon placed his finger to silence Rose’s remark and slips her

  gown off her shoulders, brushing them each with light kisses. No

  matter what, he just can’t seem to have enough of her.

  “I–” Rose gasped as his lips trail over her collar bone and

  descended down to the valley of her breasts and grasped his shoulders.

  “Leon, you’re–” She shivered with enjoyment as his mouth came and

  closed around her nipples and held her breath, “Oh, you’re

  so…wicked.”

  Leon smiled against her skin and pulls her over to sit on top of his<
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  desk as he ravish and explores her body with his mouth.

  “Leon…” She pushed him back when he went down to kiss her

  between her thighs. “This…is so…wrong.”

  He gave out a low chuckle and kisses his way back up to whisper

  in her ears, “We’ve been married for a month, my dear. Nothing is

  wrong so throw away the modesty.”

  “I hate how you make me feel so…so…”

  “Angelic?” Leon offered with a smile. “You always look like an

  angel when you’re spazzing and panting with love.”

  “No, I don’t,” Rose denied, blushing as she closes her eyes and

  let him have his way with her. She knows he’ll just make things worse

  with his sizzling comment.

  “Gosh, stop that,” she swatted his hand as they slip down to the

  most sensitive part of her body and tried to pull away, yet every part of

  her body scream for more.

  “You’re always so…warm and hot and slick,” Leon said, rubbing

  her raw of pleasure. “You’re so ready.”

  She moaned and clutched onto him, pressing hard to the feel of

  his fingers working their magic.

  “Oh…Leon…that…that feels...so...so…”

  “No,” she heard him say as he stops for a brief moment. “I have

  to be there with you.”

  With that, Leon replaced his fingers with the hardening pleasure

  of his manhood and drove into her entrance, bringing Rose into an

  uproar cry of delight.

  “I love the feel of you,” Leon murmured, nipping at her ears as he

  thrust slowly in and out of her. “You…bewitched me.”

  “My, oh my…Leon…don’t…don’t ever…stop…”

  Leon claimed her mouth as their love heightens to its climax and

  shuddered, filling her completely with the wave of joy and

  satisfaction.

  There’s never ever going to be anyone that can make her feel the

  same way that he does.

  No one.

  “I love you,” Leon said, cupping her face in his hand. “You

  complete my world. I can’t say it enough. I’ll always love you. I don’t

  think I will ever love anyone else. I could never love anyone else

  again.”

  Rose smiled dreamily and wraps her arms around his neck,

  pulling his face down to hers. “I love you, too, Leon. You will forever

  and always be my one and only loving husband. I could never dream

  of being with anyone else besides you.”

  “And to think you were going to marry Lansing’s son, that

  wounds me,” he said, jokingly feigning hurt in his tone.

  “Don’t even remind me,” she said, stroking her fingers through

  his hair. “Although I feel bad that he had to die in that way.” “You’re too nice,” Leon said, pulling back to straighten his

  clothes, and help Rose with hers. “He almost killed you and yet you

  feel bad.”

  “Well, I felt that Lord Lansing–his father should be the one to die

  instead,” Rose said. “Marcus didn’t really have much to–” “I understand,” Leon interjected, swinging her up into his arms.

  “I would like nothing better than to have his father die in his place, but

  it seems I had failed so I’ll look forward to it the next time we meet.” “I don’t want you guys to ever meet again,” Rose said, cupping

  his face in her hand and resting her head against his shoulder. “I don’t

  like seeing you get hurt.”

  “Well, you’re hurting me by bringing up this topic,” Leon teased,

  pinching her nose.

  “Well, sorry if I did,” Rose answered, matching his teasing tone. “I think we should get back now,” Leon said, beaming into her

  glowing face as she looks at him. “We’ll have our fun later.” “You need to fix my hair again for me, Leon,” Rose said as she

  feel her hair come loose around her shoulders. “I can’t be seen like

  this.”

  Leon laughed and nodded his head. “You’re right. Only I can see

  you like this.”

  “You’re such an ass,” she answered, slapping him on the

  shoulder.

  “I see you’re catching on fast with the family.”

  Rose gave him a rather impious grin as he sets her down on his

  desk again and work his way through with her hair.

  “Perhaps I am,” she agreed to Leon’s previous comment,

  savoring the touch of his fingers on her hair. “And I love you much,

  my ass husband.”

  Avangelene stood with her arms cross and waited impatiently for her brother to return with his wife. She had been playing hostess for the past hour and wasn’t quite thrill with it, at least not after she spotted her comrade Lord Strathmore, Drake, who was to help her on a mission she had plan out, flirting and promising every invited ladies in the ballroom a dance. It would totally cause a delay.

  Leon had said that they’ll only be taking a few minutes to discuss some ‘things’ and return as soon as they’re finished. It’s not like she believe such nonsense. They can’t fool her. She knows what they’re doing. Anyone can see that the burning flame in them had not yet settle and she fear it never will, for they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off one another ever since they had joined together in holy matrimony, and even before that. She’ll be surprise if they don’t announce a new addition to the family soon. It seems only reasonable with the excessive quality of time that they spent together.

  “Avange,” came the voice of her brother Leon from the top of the stair case.

  About time they return. She has matters to tend.

  “Things for taking your time to manage things here, Avange,” he said.

  “Yes, thank you much, Avangelene,” her sister-in-law said, smiling enchantingly up at Leon.

  She can see that they love one another very much.

  “No problem at all,” she said, though really she was not so pleased. “It would be really mean of me to not let my brother enjoy a little–” – she winked at Rose– “tête-àtête with his wife.”

  With that, she walked away, leaving Leon and Rose to gape shockingly after her.

  “All your sisters are horrible,” Rose said, feeling herself heated.

  “What can I say, we’re Heartilys,” he grinned. “Would you care to waltz, my lovely wife?”

  Rose took his hand in hers and answered, “I thought you’ll never ask.”

  Laguna stood and watched as the infuriating Avangelene strolls over to the half-witted Lord Strathmore and feel a twist of something indescribable in his gut.

  He was surprised to see her dressed in a simple green gown with long-sleeves and matching sequin laces than her usual men’s garment. Her hair was in an updo of curls and swept to the side of her shoulder, too, instead of the usual wig or simple ponytail tied back. It must be in courtesy of Lady Rose, or rather, Mrs. Heartily, since she had married Leon and was the hostess of the ball.

  Avangelene looks rather enchanted though, he had to admit. If only she didn’t look so intimidating with her dark glare earlier directed at Lord Strathmore as she crosses her arms and waited for whatever, he probably would have asked her to dance. He would wager that the other gentlemen wanted the same; although he could see that the other Heartily Sisters were just as intriguing. But something about Avangelene was quite…extraordinary.

  He wonders why she was looking at Strathmore so. Could it be that there’s something between the two?

  She couldn’t be jealous of the ladies he’s flirting with, could she?

  It doesn’t seem to be in her nature.

  Laguna move closer along the wall as he saw that she was now talking to Stra
thmore and forcing him away from the group of young women that crowded him and thought she must really have been jealous.

  He almost laughed at the absurdity.

  He knows Strathmore well, and he doesn’t seem like the type Avangelene would fawn over. There must be another reason.

  Laguna follows as he saw that they’re both retiring and going out the door, and hid behind one of the marble column to prevent from being seen.

  Where the devil is she going with Strathmore?

  He went closer and peeked through the crack of the door and saw Avangelene stripping off her gown. She seems to have worn her manly clothing underneath it and was now undoing her hair and tucking it under one of her silly wigs.

  He knew then, that she was up to no good.

  Laguna was about to burst out and take her back in, but was interrupted by the shout of his name.

  “Hargate!”

  Damn it!

  He turned to see that it was Gareth Longsword and scowled.

  “What are you doing over here?” Longsword asked, coming over to lean on the other column with his arms crossed.

  “Just wanted a moment to myself,” Laguna answered, hoping that Gareth would go away.

  “That’s unusual of you,” said Longsword, as he cocks his head to look at him. “You’re usually out and above to seek out the fun in these soirées.”

  “I am,” he said peering back at the crack of the door. “Just not at the moment.”

  “Do you have somewhere to go?” Longsword asked, as he notices the glance from Laguna’s eyes.

  Thank God he asked.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” Laguna said in relief.

  “Go then,” Longsword said, gazing back at the dance floor. “I don’t think Leon would mind so much of your absence now that he has somebody alluring and beautiful around his arms.”

  Laguna followed Longsword’s gaze and knew he was right.

  Their friend has become so besotted over his little wife that he barely noticed their presence.

  “Please give Leon my utmost sincere apology for leaving and bid him a farewell for the evening,” Laguna said quickly, and hurried out before he loses track of Avangelene.

  Turn the page for a special preview of the next addition to the Heartily Bastards Series…