Chapter 8

Good god, had she loved the man? Jacob had not really planned this out as thoroughly as he would've liked. He'd seen her in the park and he'd improvised, although not well enough...

He certainly shouldn't want to know why her fiancé had runoff. He wasn't supposed to care. But he cared, dammit. He wanted to learn all her secrets and he wanted to kill the sod for hurting her so.

You're going to hurt her too.

Well yes, but at least he wasn't going to give her hope of marriage. In fact, he wouldn't even seduce her unless it was absolutely necessary. The fact that he wanted to seduce her for a completely different reason, for himself, didn't signify.

"I'm sorry, like I said, I didn't mean to pry," he said, finding his tongue.

"I know, it's alright." She gave him a small smile. "He was in love with another. I was willing to cry off, but my father refused, he found out about the truth. He said I must marry him or he'd pay. I certainly didn't want to marry a man who was in love with someone else. So I hatched a plan. I asked him to elope as fast as he could. But the daft man couldn't manage to do it until the day of the wedding and I had to play along so my father didn't get suspicious and go after him. So yes, to my complete humiliation, I was 'abandoned'-as the gossip rags put it-by the groom at my own wedding. But I guess that was better than marrying him."

Jacob didn't know what to say.

"You were willing to let him go so easily?"

"My feelings were never engaged. The match was arranged by my father," she shrugged as if she hadn't put her entire future on stake for the sake of a spineless sod.

At least she hadn't loved him, he thought relieved.

"I like you, Lady Olivia," he smiled, unable to keep the admiration from his voice. She really was incredible.

"You've said that before," she whispered, her eyes widening.

"I have?"

"In Derbyshire..."

"I have, haven't I?" He laughed, the conversation they'd had all those years ago coming back to him. She grinned and Jacob got a glimpse of the girl she had been.

His chest tightened at the thought of deceiving her, but faced with the choice between her and his uncle, he had to choose his uncle.

"Shall we take a walk?"

She seemed to hesitate for a moment but then she nodded.

"Sally, I'll be back in some time. You may wait here," Olivia said to her maid. She didn't need a chaperone. She was only taking a walk in a public park.

"How is London treating you?" she smiled up at him.

"Very well," he grinned. "Although I find that I cannot abide by all the strict rules over here," he shuddered. Olivia laughed, she couldn't imagine this rugged-looking man abiding by any rules.

"It must've been quite lax in Italy, yes?" She peaked up at him. He looked surprised.

"How did you know about that?"

Now she began to laugh in earnest. "The gossip rags can speak of little else but you ever since your appearance at the ball last night. You'll find that news travels very fast in London."

She thought she heard him groan. "And what else did these gossip rags have to say about me?" he grinned.

"That you are extremely handsome but in a barbaric sort of way-" Jacob had to laugh at that but he motioned her to continue. "That you are rich and that you are the heir to Viscount Townshend," she finished.

She saw his eyes darken at the end.

What was this about? Was he on bad terms with his uncle? He must be. Why else was he in Italy all these years? Olivia decided that now was not the time to ask him.

Wordlessly, she lead him to her favourite part of Hyde Park. It was relatively less popular which also made it quiet.

Jacob was still uneasy even after walking with Olivia for a few minutes. His throat felt tight at the thought of his uncle and somehow, he felt that telling Olivia would put him at ease. Despite his friendship with Peter, he hadn't once thought to tell him of his inner turmoil. But he wanted to tell Olivia, he wanted to explain everything to her and he wanted her to cure him of his darkness with her light.

For the first time in many years, Jacob wanted to give himself a chance.

He couldn't tell her everything. Not yet. There was no telling that she wouldn't run to her father.

But maybe he could tell her about his Uncle's condition? He knew she wanted him to.

He took a deep breath.

This is only so she's sympathetic towards me, he told himself even as he knew he was lying.

"My uncle is very sick," he said. Her blue eyes widened with surprise. But she didn't interrupt him.

"I was very close to him ever since I was a child...my parents had passed. But when I was three and twenty, a month after we met, he asked me to leave. I didn't understand what I'd done wrong. I raged at him for days but he didn't budge. I left for Italy after a week."

"You never came to visit him, did you?" she guessed.

He nodded solemnly.

"I never wrote back to him. I succeeded, but I was only driven by anger."

"Now he's dying and I regret my actions. I just wish I had more time with him..." he took a deep breath again, feeling suspiciously close to tears. God, he sure as hell didn't want to cry.

"Everything's going to be alright, you'll see," she took his hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. Jacob felt a rush of relief so profound, he couldn't put a name on it.

"I'm sorry," he shrugged, not that he regretted telling her. He hadn't felt this light in months.

"You have no reason to apologise," she smiled. That smile tugged at his heart.

That was funny because the last time he checked, he didn't have a heart.

Jacob didn't realise he was staring at her until it was too late. It seemed like her breathing had hitched.

He didn't know who moved first but their lips were touching. He tried to pull back, but he couldn't move. It was as if he was paralyzed and the only part of him that could move were his lips, brushing against hers-once, twice-until he couldn't take it anymore and pulled her to him with a sound that came from deep inside him.