They proceeded down an ornate corridor, through an arched doorway, and into an immense chamber tastefully decorated in gold and blue, with gilt furnishings and priceless artwork. As the footman announced them, Natalie noticed several ladies sitting with Her Grace, along with Lady Elizabeth.

And there, in the thick of them, was Hadrian.

He arose from his chair, his gaze honed on her. He looked so perilously attractive in his charcoal-gray suit and white cravat that her insides curled into a tangled knot. Was he, too, remembering the scandalous intimacy they’d shared the previous day? Under the scrutiny of those penetrating eyes, she felt a clench of desire so strong that it left her breathless.

She hadn’t expected to find him here, entertaining callers. In fact, she had little knowledge of day-to-day life in a grand ducal household. Had she committed a blunder by bringing her grandfather here without permission?

But Hadrian could not have been more cordial. Stepping forward, he bowed. “Miss Fanshawe, Sir Basil, welcome. Do come and join us.”

As they followed him toward the others, Natalie slid a glance at her grandfather to see him waggle his white eyebrows at her as if to convey his approval of the duke. A flush crept up her neck, and she sent a warning frown back at him. Unfortunately, he had turned his attention to Hadrian’s mother.

Her plump form draped in a bronze-green gown, the duchess sat on a chaise with one hand pressed to her magnificent bosom and her pet spaniel nestled in her lap. “My stars! Is it truly you, Basil?”

He swept a courtly bow and then took her other hand, reverently kissing the back. “Indeed so, Your Grace. I’m happy to see that the years have only added luster to your beauty.”

“And I see that you haven’t lost your skill at blarney.” To her other guests, she said, “You must forgive us. We are old friends.”

“Old?” Sir Basil objected. “Perhaps I am, but not you, Your Grace. Why, I can only think you must have drunk from the fabled fountain of youth.”

The duchess giggled. “Flatterer. Pray call me Millie, as you were always wont to do. Now, sit down and we shall catch up on decades of news.”

When she patted the place beside her on the chaise, Sir Basil seated himself there with alacrity, earning a smile from Her Grace for scratching the spaniel’s ears and proclaiming him to be the handsomest dog in all England. Natalie took a chair in between them and Lady Elizabeth, partly because she liked Hadrian’s sister, and partly because she wanted to be close enough to eavesdrop, ready to intervene if her grandfather strayed onto forbidden topics.

The three visiting ladies regarded him with a skeptical curiosity, and she wondered if the elder one would remember the thirty-year-old scandal about how Sir Basil had been drummed out of society for nonpayment of gambling debts.

Toward her, they exuded a distinct note of hostility, despite their polite smiles as Hadrian made the introductions. Arrayed in high style, Lady Birdsall had come with her daughters, Lady Cora and Lady Eugenie. The two were so remarkably alike in their blue-eyed blondness that Natalie would have thought them twins had not their mother mentioned that Cora had made her bows the previous season, while Eugenie would do so this year.