She tucked her chin, affording him a timid glance from beneath her lashes. “Oh no, Your Grace. I’ve become quite dull, I’m afraid.”

“Rather, you’ve learned proper behavior,” her mother corrected. “You’ve become the perfect young lady.”

“You do appear admirably ready to face the ton,” Hadrian said to the girl. “The gentlemen will be thronging around you, vying for one of your lovely smiles.”

The smile immediately vanished. “Me?” she squeaked. “But … I’m just a rustic, fresh out of the schoolroom. I wouldn’t know what to say to them … or even to you.”

He took her dainty hand and patted it. “There’s nothing to fear. Just talk about whatever you like. They’ll find you to be charming.”

“I hope that you find her charming, too,” Lady Godwin said leadingly.

He inclined his head in a polite nod. “I look forward to spending time with my cousin this week. We’ve much catching up to do.”

So why the devil did he feel more like an older brother than a suitor?

Lady Ellen fit all of his requirements for the perfect wife. In appearance, she was a beauty with that glossy blond hair, the huge blue eyes, the delicate features. Her ancestry was impeccable, hailing as she did from a long, distinguished line of nobility. And he was twenty-nine to her eighteen, an ideal gap to ensure he was ready to settle down, while she was young enough to bear him healthy sons and to learn how to oversee the large households on his five properties.

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.