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“You were the one who helped Lord Walsrock with the research for his bill, weren’t you?” Rose asked as it dawned on her how Kenneth might have gone about gathering as much data with as much success as he’d done.
“Guilty as charged,” he chuckled. “I can’t take credit for the bill, however. That is all Lord Walsrock’s. I just assisted him in the little way I could,” Leonard responded in humility.
“I see. Humility will take you places, after all,” she chuckled in response. “In any case, do you mind telling me what Lord Walsrock was like as a child?”
Hearty laughter escaped his lips even as he struggled to suppress it.
“Lord Walsrock as a child? One word, My Lady. Chaos!” he responded, still laughing. “The Marquess got up to so much mischief that it is a wonder he turned out into a fine young gentleman.”
“Really?” she chuckled.
“Yes, My Lady. The Duchess had her hands full trying to mold him into a respectable gentleman. It was always one mischief or the other.”
“I can’t, for the life of me, imagine the Marquess getting up to any mischief as a child,” she laughed.
“Where do you think his penchant for sneaking around manors originated from?” Leonard chided.
“Well, if we go by that analogy, I was also up to much mischief growing up,” she countered.
Leonard simply tossed his head to one side in sarcasm. She could also tell that he had exchanged glances with her lady’s maid who was standing behind her.
“What exactly are you both up to?” Rose snickered as her head swung back and forth, from Leonard to Elsa.
Her lady’s mid simply put her face down even though she could tell Elsa was smiling.
“I’ll have you know that I was the most well-behaved child in my age group,” she continued protesting.
“I do not doubt this one bit, My Lady. You are the epitome of decorum and good manners,” Leonard offered with a slight chuckle.
“Don’t patronize me, Leonard,” she fired back in humor.
“I will do no such thing, My Lady.”
“And who is this?” Lord Rockgonie said from outside the gazebo, in reference to Leonard. He had crept up on them without anyone noticing.
“My Lord,” Leonard said as he spun on his feet and bowed.
“This is Lord Walsrock’s valet,” Rose interjected.
“So what is he doing here even as his Lord is conspicuously absent? Shouldn’t he be beside Lord Walsrock?” Lord Rockgonie responded warily.
It took a few moments before Rose realized that Lord Rockgonie wasn’t railing on Kenneth’s valet because he felt Leonard was beneath him. He was railing because he didn’t know how much Leonard knew about their secrets and including another person into their secret circle was a huge danger to all of them.
“Lord Walsrock sent a letter to me to explain his unavoidable absence. Leonard is here to deliver that letter,” Rose explained. “And don’t worry, he is aware of everything going on between the Marquess and I. You have nothing to worry about as his loyalties lie with Lord Walsrock.”
Her last comment could have been water dousing a flame as she noticed Lord Rockgonie’s wariness fade into nothing.
“I’m just trying to be careful,” Lord Rockgonie said with a slight chuckle.
“I understand, My Lord. I definitely felt the same way yesterday before the introduction,” she teased.
She didn’t know if Leonard was aware of Lady Anna yet. Even though he was trustworthy, she decided it wasn’t her place to mention Lord Rockgonie’s lover, hence her subtle comment. Lord Rockgonie, on the other hand, understood perfectly what she was referring to and simply smiled.
“So is the Marquess going to be joining us today?” Lord Rockgonie directed his question to Leonard.
Before Leonard could answer and as if on cue, Kenneth’s curricle pulled into the manor, causing everyone’s attention to be directed toward the gateway.
Rose was already on her feet and beaming from ear to ear even before Kenneth had stepped down from the carriage.
