Hadrian obligingly took the chair opposite hers. Leaning back, he stretched out his legs and let his eyes feast on the sight of her lovely features, caressed by the soft rainy light. “I’m listening.”

“As you know, my father was the baseborn son of a baronet, Sir Basil Fanshawe. Apparently, Sir Basil was an infamous rake in his prime, and one of his many affairs was with an opera singer. When she conceived his child, he supported her financially, though he didn’t wed her, of course. Like all English aristocrats, he chose a well-bred lady to be his wife.”

Hadrian didn’t want her believing that was always true. “Commoners have married into the nobility from time to time.”

“Perhaps in rare instances when the woman is an heiress, but that wasn’t the case here. According to Papa, his mother—my grandmother—left him as a swaddling babe with Sir Basil. She was heading off on a European opera tour, you see. My grandmother later married an Italian conte and became a contessa, only to die of a fever shortly thereafter, poor soul.”

“You don’t resent her for abandoning your father?”

Natalie sighed. “Singing was her passion. And I like to believe she wanted a more permanent life for her son than constantly moving from city to city like a vagabond. I give credit to the baronet, too, who tried to do right by my father. Though Sir Basil’s personal affairs were in a shambles, he scraped up the funds to educate Papa at Eton and Cambridge. But Papa came to realize that his bastardy was a liability here in England. Though he was raised a gentleman, he was barred from many of the best homes.”

That explained quite a lot to Hadrian about her dismal view of the aristocracy. “So he emigrated to America.”

She nodded. “As a young man, Papa went in search of a place where he would be judged not on the blueness of his blood, but on the worth of his character. He embraced liberty with great enthusiasm and became a citizen as swiftly as possible.” A challenging smile lit her face as if she relished the story and hoped to shock him with it. “There, Mr. Duke, now you know my shady past. I’m sure it’s quite a bit more risqué than your own.”

Hadrian found himself smiling back. “Actually, I’ve a few rebels and miscreants among my ducal ancestors, a smattering of commoners, as well. I’ll tell you about them sometime. But getting back to your father, it seems he made a great success of himself.”

“Yes, Papa had a knack for business and land management, and was so well spoken that he could sell a swamp as arable farmland. Not that he ever did so. He was scrupulously honest in his dealings, which is why we were comfortable but never wealthy. Eventually, he was persuaded to become a senator by friends in the state legislature.”

“A tribute to the value of an English gentleman’s education,” Hadrian couldn’t resist saying.