“Are you saying he might not even know about—” His gaze incredulous, he cast a significant glance at Leo.

She firmed her lips. “I couldn’t delay any longer. I was obliged to fulfill my vow to Audrey. Her last request was for me to bring her son to England with the utmost swiftness.”

Her mind flashed again to that horrific scene, to her friend’s dying words, to the grip of Audrey’s bloodied hands. Please, you must promise to do so, as soon as possible. Leo must go to England where he’ll be safe.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Natalie looked starkly at the duke. “She wanted him to have the protection of his family, you see. So when news of the peace treaty came, I made immediate arrangements for our voyage. Surely Lord Godwin will be eager to welcome such a fine grandson.”

“One would hope so.”

On that cryptic remark, Clayton said no more, and his brooding expression stirred uneasiness in her. What if Leo wasn’t welcome here? What if his blood relatives rejected him? But she didn’t see what other choice there had been. Although sorely tempted to forget the vow, to keep Leo in America with her, she’d felt honor-bound to obey the wishes of her dear departed friend.

To her last breath, Audrey had desired only to shield her son from harm. Even if she didn’t agree with the decision, Natalie could understand that urgency, given the ferocious attack that had cost so many lives. Yet she’d have been happy to keep him with her forever. Nothing had ever meant more to her than fulfilling the role of foster mother to Leo.

But now her fears rose to the fore. What life awaited him here? Who were these people that Audrey had felt compelled to flee at the age of eighteen? Why would she be so adamant about giving her son to a grandfather who might not even want him?

Fierce resolve steeled Natalie’s spine. No matter what she had promised, she would never leave Leo in a harmful situation. She would remain with him until assuring herself that he’d be happy here at Oak Knoll.

And if he was not?

Then she would take him back to America and raise him herself.

Hadrian allowed Miss Fanshawe and Leo to alight first from the post chaise. While she turned to straighten the boy’s collar, he glanced up at the familiar stone façade of the manor house. So many of his childhood memories lay within these walls. Although the estate looked dreary from the hard winter, he admitted to a nostalgic fondness for the place. On school holidays, he’d whiled away many an hour fishing at the pond, galloping over the hills, or joining his uncle in hunting parties during autumn.

He believed Leo could be happy here, too.

If, that is, Godwin was amenable to accepting the son of his runaway daughter. Long ago, the man had forbidden anyone even to speak her name. Having been away at Oxford at the time of the brouhaha, Hadrian had learned second-hand about the quarrel in which Audrey had declared her intention to wed the man she loved and Godwin had threatened to disown her if she did. It had long been understood that Godwin intended for Hadrian to offer for her, although Hadrian had always viewed her as a sister, and a rather pious one at that. He’d suffered no heartbreak when she had eloped, other than wishing he’d had the chance to renounce any claim on her in hopes she might have stayed in England. Godwin, on the other hand, had acted as if she were dead.