by Olivia Drake
Hadrian conversed with her for a few more minutes before excusing himself to change for luncheon. As he left the drawing room and bounded up the stairs, a sense of guilty reprieve filled him. He felt almost like a schoolboy escaping a particularly onerous Greek lesson.
Chatting with the girl had been something of a trial between her blushes and faltering, the difficulty in finding a subject of interest to her. Though prodded by her mother, Lady Ellen seemed lukewarm on the topics of riding, hobbies, and even the coming season. She was like a china doll on a shelf who served no other purpose than to look pretty.
But surely that impression would dissipate as she grew more accustomed to his company. They needed time to come to know one another better, that was all. He mustn’t expect a young and inexperienced girl to be as lively and fascinating as the intrepid Miss Fanshawe.
Chapter 6
“Oh, miss, you mustn’t be doing that!”
The dismayed voice made Natalie glance over her shoulder. She was standing on a chair, using a broom to swipe at a cobweb in a corner of the schoolroom. They’d eaten their lunch here, and now Leo was sitting at a table by the window, absorbed in playing with a set of tin soldiers he’d unearthed from a cupboard.
A maidservant in mobcap and apron came hurrying into the nursery. The girl couldn’t have been more than sixteen. And she looked genuinely distraught. Her brown eyes were wide in a freckled face, her rusty-red brows drawn together as she set down her box of cleaning supplies.
Having successfully cleared away the sticky strands, Natalie stepped back down to the floor. “I’m sorry, did I alarm you by standing on a chair? I’m perfectly safe, as you can see. And who might you be?”
“I’m Susan. But, miss, you oughtn’t be cleaning. ’Tis my duty.”
“The place is coated in grime. Every surface will have to be wiped in order to make these rooms habitable. The task will be finished twice as fast if we both pitch in.”
“But you’re a lady!”
“Nonsense,” Natalie said crisply. “I hail from America, where people aren’t divided into classes. As a free woman, I won’t stand by idly while you work. So let’s combine forces and get on with it.”
She grabbed a rag and began to dust the cabinets and bookshelves. Seeing that Susan still looked dubious, Natalie suggested, “It would be very helpful if you’d begin in the bedchambers, so that Leo and I will have somewhere clean to sleep tonight.”
“Yes, miss.” Susan bobbed a curtsy, then scurried with mop and broom down a corridor.
Natalie disliked the curtsy. But perhaps the duke was right, and she ought to embrace the local customs. She certainly didn’t wish to make the girl uncomfortable. Susan had been trained to show deference to those she regarded as her betters, as were all English servants.
But it still bothered Natalie’s sense of equality.
Her rag soon grew filthy, for the schoolroom appeared to have been neglected for a number of years. She went to the bank of windows and opened the casement, leaning over the sill to shake out a cloud of dust.
The mid-afternoon air had warmed from the chill of the morning, and the ice storm of the previous day seemed like a bad dream now, for the temperature was almost balmy. A soft breeze carried the scents of loam and freshness and the promise of springtime. With the nursery situated at the top of the house, she had a bird’s-eye view of the rolling hills and the farmland in the distance, where the fields were being plowed for planting.
It all looked so tidy and civilized compared to the American frontier. Not that that entirely displeased her. There was a certain peace to this orderly landscape, a soothing serenity to be relished after spending more than a year living in the wilderness. Perhaps each locale had its merits.
Leaving the window open to air out the musty room, she went over to ruffle Leo’s hair. “You’re being rather quiet, young man.”
“I’m setting up my battle. Bang, bang!” He waved the toy soldier in his hand at the opposing regiment, then glanced up at her, his eyes bright. “Will Mr. Duke come here? I want him to see the fight.”
He’d adopted that name for the Duke of Clayton, and she’d given up on dissuading him from it. The innocent hope in his blue gaze tugged at her heart. He craved a man in his life, someone whom he could look up to as a father. But although Clayton had been supportive of Leo’s right to live here, she very much doubted a nobleman of his stature would bother any further with a child, not even one who was related to him by blood.
“Perhaps another day, darling. He’ll be visiting with his relatives today. Now, let me know if you grow cold and I’ll close the window.”
As Leo returned to his army, she focused her attention on dusting the pictures on the walls. Twenty-six of them comprised the alphabet, each letter cleverly depicted as a zoo animal. While she worked, Natalie had a vision of the duke sitting here in this schoolroom as a boy, learning his letters by gazing at these very drawings. It was difficult to imagine such a powerful man as a vulnerable boy grieving for his father.
On the ride here, he’d mentioned having attained his title at the tender age of five. He had come to live at Oak Knoll since his father’s cousin, Lord Godwin, had been his appointed guardian. Where had his mother been? Had she moved here with him? Or had she died, as well?
Useless speculations. Better she should ponder Leo’s fate.
Meeting his relatives had been a sobering experience. Lord Godwin had acted aloof, Lady Godwin self-absorbed, and Lord Wymark callous. None of them had appeared pleased to have a long-lost grandson land in their midst. The Duke of Clayton had been Leo’s sole ally, and he was merely a visitor. Soon, he would go away and Leo would have no one to watch out for him.
The notion shook Natalie to the core.
A part of her fiercely wished she had never crossed the ocean to bring Leo to England. These aristocrats might be his blood kin, but they clearly had little interest in the boy. Everything in her balked at the notion of abandoning him among people who did not love him. She wanted to steal him away and take him back to America. Upon their return to Philadelphia, she could raise Leo herself while fulfilling her dream of opening a school there.
Yet she had promised Audrey. She had sworn an oath. And surely Audrey would not have made such a request if she’d believed her father to be a heartless tyrant. But how could she have still trusted the earl after the way he’d forsaken her? He’d disowned her for the sin of marrying a commoner.
Natalie frowned while dusting the framed drawing of a swan curled into the letter S. She had learned at her own father’s knee about the exclusivity of the British upper class. Having grown up in England, Papa had disparaged their practice of wedding only blue bloods from within their closed circles. Godwin had cast off his daughter for daring to break that rule. And it remained to be seen if he would even accept Leo.
The muted sound of a knock broke into her brooding thoughts.
A young lady was peeping into the schoolroom. Clad in a gown of pale yellow with a black ribbon tied beneath her bodice, she had gold curls and china-blue eyes. Her gaze darted from Natalie to Leo and back again.
“Hullo,” she said in a sprightly tone. “I hope I’m not intruding. I heard that I’ve a nephew who’s come to visit all the way from America.”
Nephew? This must be the half sister Audrey had once mentioned.
Natalie put down her dust cloth and wiped her palms on her apron. “Please come in. You’re not intruding in the least. We were just sprucing up the place.”
Gliding forward, the girl wrinkled her pert nose as she glanced around. “No one’s used the nursery in ages. My name is Lady Ellen. And you are…?”
“Miss Fanshawe.” Natalie considered offering her hand, but felt loath to soil such pristine beauty with her dusty fingers. And she certainly would not genuflect to a girl who looked to be nearly ten years her junior. “That’s Leo over there by the window.”
Seemingly oblivious to Natalie’s breach of protocol, Lady Ellen breezed on past and headed to Leo
. She hovered over him, her slim hands clasped to her bosom. “Oh, what an adorable little boy you are! So very handsome!”
He craned his head back to regard her. “Who are you?”
“I’m your aunt Ellen, your mama’s younger sister. Fancy me being an aunt and I didn’t even know it until today!”
“Mama isn’t here anymore. She’s an angel in heaven now.”
“Indeed, I’ve only just heard.” The girl’s face crumpled, her lower lip quivering. “You poor, dear child. It was so terribly sad—”
“It was many months ago,” Natalie interrupted, unwilling to let him be reminded of that horror, especially since his nightmares had finally faded. “Now, perhaps Leo will show you his battlefield.”
“Oh! Look at that. I remember my brother Richard playing with these very same soldiers. But do come, Leo. You must see all the other toys.”
Natalie went to wash her hands in a basin of water. She watched over her shoulder as the girl motioned Leo to join her at a row of cupboards. There, with all the enthusiasm of a child, she dragged out skipping ropes and building blocks and wooden puzzles, leaving everything scattered in a messy heap. Leo sat down to play with a top, spinning it across the planked floor.
While Natalie dried her hands on a linen towel, Lady Ellen scurried over, saying in an abashed murmur, “I daresay I oughtn’t have mentioned Audrey to him. How thoughtless of me! Papa thinks I’m entirely too impetuous.”
Natalie kept her voice low, too. “It’s just that Leo was inconsolable for a time after his parents died. It’s good to see him contented again.”
Those big blue eyes brimmed with tears. “Yes, I imagine so. And you mustn’t think badly of me for my gown.”
“Your gown?”
“I ought to have donned mourning, of course. But Mama says we needn’t wear weeds since so much time has passed already and Audrey was estranged from us, anyway. I scarcely remember my sister, you see. But I did wish to honor her memory in some way. So I added this.” She indicated the length of narrow black ribbon tied in a bow beneath her bosom.
Natalie was touched by the gesture. At least the girl was friendlier than the rest of her family and exhibited genuine caring for Leo. “How thoughtful. Audrey was my dearest friend, and let me assure you, she was too happy a person to have ever wanted people to drape themselves in black on her account.”
“Then I needn’t feel bad about it.” Lady Ellen pursed her rosy lips. “I only wish there was something I could do for poor Leo.”
“I’m sure he would enjoy an occasional visit from his aunt.”
The girl brightened at that; then just as swiftly her face fell. “Oh, but my family and I will be departing for London next week for the season. And Papa believes children belong here at Oak Knoll.”
Dismay shook Natalie. This was a twist she hadn’t anticipated. Leo mustn’t be abandoned here with only servants for company. “What do you mean by the season? The springtime?”
“Why, it’s when all of society gathers in London, from Eastertide through June. Do you not have such a season in America? What a pity, for it is the most glorious time of the year, or so everyone says.”
“You’ve never experienced it before?”
“No, this season shall be my very first one.” She clasped her hands together and twirled around in a circle, her skirts flaring. “You cannot imagine how thrilled I am! There shall be balls and routs and parties and shopping…” She stopped, alarm wiping the vivacity from her pretty features, her gaze frozen on the door. Under her breath, she moaned, “Oh no. It’s him.”
Mystified, Natalie turned her gaze in that direction, and her heart cavorted against her rib cage. Meltingly handsome in a tailored blue coat that outlined his broad shoulders, the Duke of Clayton stepped into the nursery. His tall form seemed to dwarf the spacious room. She had a keen awareness of her own untidy appearance and had to resist the impulse to tuck in a few strands of hair that had come loose while she was cleaning.
His gaze flicked at her and Lady Ellen standing in the corner. He seemed a trifle surprised to see them together.
Beaming, Leo ran helter-skelter through the maze of toys and tables. “Mr. Duke! Mr. Duke! Miss Fanshawe said you wouldn’t come, but I knew you would!”
One corner of his mouth curled up. “You’re a clever one, brat. You remembered that I’d promised you a tour of the house.”
“First, you have to watch my battle,” Leo said, grasping Clayton’s large hand and hauling him toward the window. “I’ve been working on it for hours and hours.”
The duke let himself be towed in that direction. But halfway there, he paused to give them a courtly bow. “Ladies.”
Lady Ellen sank into a deep curtsy, while Natalie acknowledged him with a cool nod that belied the quivering inside her bosom. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, and her skin tingled, sending sparks of awareness throughout her body. He seemed always to have this effect on her—to make her feel as flustered as a green girl.
She was too mature for such starry-eyed nonsense. Especially in regard to an English nobleman who was no better than herself. What she felt was merely an instinctive feminine reaction to an attractive man, nothing more.
Clayton proceeded to the table and crouched down to survey the tableau arranged there. “I see you’ve assembled two large armies. The mighty British infantry against the French forces.”
“Oh no, Mr. Duke! It’s the mighty ’Mericans against the British. We’ll beat the lobster backs, push them right into the sea. Bang! Bang!” Leo used one of the soldiers to knock several of the others off the table.
He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Then I had best play the part of the British before they’re utterly decimated.”
“De-cim-ated?”
“Destroyed. Trounced. Defeated.”
“Ha! They will be de-cim-ated ’cause the ’Mericans are the bravest! Pow!” Leo sent another soldier flying.
Natalie parted her lips to remind him to behave politely, but stopped in surprise when Clayton went to his own side of the table and launched into an attack on the American troops, marching a company of soldiers forward into battle. The two armies fought in earnest with both man and boy uttering exuberant sound effects.
Watching the duke abandon his lordly demeanor brought a reluctant smile to her lips and a treacherous thawing to her heart. She would never have expected so lofty a gentleman to play with a child. Perhaps it was time to revise her initial impression of him being haughty and imperious.
No, he was still imperious, she amended. He was a man who had inherited his wealth and stature through an accident of birth. He’d never had to work a day in his life in order to earn the many luxuries that he enjoyed. She doubted he’d ever even spared a thought for all of the lesser beings who labored from dawn to dusk in order to make his life easy.
All of a sudden, she noticed that Lady Ellen was sidling toward the door. With her chin tucked down, she looked shy and reserved, unlike the lively girl of only a few minutes ago.
Natalie glided to her side. “Is something amiss?”
“No … yes,” Lady Ellen whispered. “Oh, I thought I was safe in the nursery. I came up here to escape him.”
Natalie kept her voice low, too, though the loud play across the room surely prevented Clayton from eavesdropping. “To escape the duke, you mean? But why?”
“Because my parents want me to marry him, that’s why. Mama said he intends to offer for me.”
The news jolted Natalie. No wonder the Duke of Clayton had made the journey to Oak Knoll; he was seeking a blue-blooded bride. But his second cousin? Even for the aristocracy, such an alliance seemed unpalatable. “He does appear to be quite a bit older than you.”
“Nearly a dozen years,” Lady Ellen groused in a barely audible hiss, her lower lip thrust out in a pout. “He’s ever so dull and dreary.”
Dull? Dreary? She might have been describing an entirely different man than the one who’d chased after Leo, offered them a ride when th
ey’d missed the mail coach, and who was at this very moment engaging in imaginary combat with the boy. “Perhaps you only need time to become better acquainted with him.”
“Bah.” Lady Ellen dismissed that with a sniff. “He might be handsome enough, but he’s going to ruin everything. I want to enjoy my first season, not be shackled to a fiancé. Besides, it was just some silly old arrangement my papa made with the duke’s father. I don’t see why I should be bound to it. After all, it wasn’t me they meant for him to marry. It was— Oh! He’s coming!”
Her gaze dipping downward again, she edged toward the door, taking tiny sidelong steps as if hoping Clayton wouldn’t notice her.
“Miss Fanshawe,” he said, his eyes intent on Natalie, “may I have your permission to take Leo on a tour? And yourself, of course, too.”
She oughtn’t agree. There was much to do in preparing the schoolroom for Leo, and she wanted everything to be perfect before she had to say her final, painful good-bye to him. Yet she’d been cooped up here all afternoon, and the prospect of a reprieve sounded infinitely more appealing than battling dust. “Yes, thank you. I’d love to see the rest of the house, if for no other reason than to learn my way around.”
“Excellent.” Turning his gaze to his cousin, he added in a smooth tone, “And you, Lady Ellen? It would be my great pleasure to act as your escort. I’m sure you know as much or more about this ancient pile as I do.”
She halted in place, her chin tucked in, her demeanor bashful. “Forgive me, but I—I must go and change for dinner.”
“Dinner is at seven. It’s not even half past four.”
“Yes … well … I’ve letters to write, too. Pray excuse me, Your Grace.”
With that, she sketched a curtsy, darted out into the corridor, and vanished from sight.
The duke stood frowning after Lady Ellen. By his knitted brow, he appeared to be puzzled by her standoffish behavior. He clearly had no inkling that she regarded him as too old and dull for her vibrant young tastes.
But it wasn’t Natalie’s duty to enlighten him. He’d discover the girl’s reluctance soon enough on his own. And if the rejection wounded his pride, it wouldn’t be for long. A rich, handsome duke surely must attract flocks of eligible young women. He could hardly want for choices.