When it came to his son, Harry was under no illusions. The boy was impossible—at times an utter impish devil. He had high hopes that if Elise came to love Sammy, she wouldn’t be put off by that. If she understood what made the boy tick, perhaps she could help him channel some of his son’s energy.

Harry pushed away from the post. “I think even Sammy has had enough excitement for one day. Shall we return him to Maeve?”

Elise’s fingers stilled on the cowlick. “Won’t he wake up if we move him?”

“That child sleeps like the dead once he crashes.” Harry hoisted Sammy to his shoulder, legs dangling. “After you.”

She rose in one fluid motion and preceded him to the nursery.

“Master Sammy’s asleep already?” Maeve asked when they entered the room.

“He fought the good fight, but it caught up with him in the end,” Harry said, moving toward the bed.

Elise removed Sammy’s slippers and pulled back the trundle bed’s covers while Harry tucked him in. Elise looked on, her eyes veiled.

“Thank you, Maeve,” Harry said and slipped the maid a fifty-pound note before he followed Elise from the room.

“I meant to warn you,” Elise said on the way down the corridor. “Be sure to search your room when you retire. House parties tend to get rather crazy once the alcohol flows. I’ve had more than one drunk stumble into my room at one of these parties.”

Harry’s step faltered, and he schooled his features into neutral lines.

She glanced up at him. “It’s true, you know. My doorknob has rattled more than once in the wee hours. I’ve even cleared my room a time or two of unwanted guests.” Elise cocked her head to the side, and a long, red curl brushed distractingly against her collarbone. “I don’t suppose Ashford Priory tolerates that sort of nonsense?”

“No.”

They moved on, his hand pressing into the small of her back.

Not for the first time, Harry pondered on the enigma that was Elise. Her parents appeared a solid and unified couple, which made him question why she had rebelled against their lifestyle in the first place. Her independent spirit clearly had little desire to conform to the family mold.

He certainly hadn’t lived up to her parents’ exacting demands when she had brought him home to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They had pulled her aside and given her a strict talking-to—which had resulted in his and Elise’s painful breakup. Had Elise’s parents treated her other suitors in much the same way?

Whatever their reasons in the past for discouraging his pursuit of their daughter, Lord and Lady Roxbury had welcomed him warmly tonight. Elise appeared on decent terms with them, more so than she had in the past. Something had obviously shifted within their family dynamic.