Having successfully cleared away the sticky strands, Natalie stepped back down to the floor. “I’m sorry, did I alarm you by standing on a chair? I’m perfectly safe, as you can see. And who might you be?”

“I’m Susan. But, miss, you oughtn’t be cleaning. ’Tis my duty.”

“The place is coated in grime. Every surface will have to be wiped in order to make these rooms habitable. The task will be finished twice as fast if we both pitch in.”

“But you’re a lady!”

“Nonsense,” Natalie said crisply. “I hail from America, where people aren’t divided into classes. As a free woman, I won’t stand by idly while you work. So let’s combine forces and get on with it.”

She grabbed a rag and began to dust the cabinets and bookshelves. Seeing that Susan still looked dubious, Natalie suggested, “It would be very helpful if you’d begin in the bedchambers, so that Leo and I will have somewhere clean to sleep tonight.”

“Yes, miss.” Susan bobbed a curtsy, then scurried with mop and broom down a corridor.

Natalie disliked the curtsy. But perhaps the duke was right, and she ought to embrace the local customs. She certainly didn’t wish to make the girl uncomfortable. Susan had been trained to show deference to those she regarded as her betters, as were all English servants.

But it still bothered Natalie’s sense of equality.

Her rag soon grew filthy, for the schoolroom appeared to have been neglected for a number of years. She went to the bank of windows and opened the casement, leaning over the sill to shake out a cloud of dust.

The mid-afternoon air had warmed from the chill of the morning, and the ice storm of the previous day seemed like a bad dream now, for the temperature was almost balmy. A soft breeze carried the scents of loam and freshness and the promise of springtime. With the nursery situated at the top of the house, she had a bird’s-eye view of the rolling hills and the farmland in the distance, where the fields were being plowed for planting.

It all looked so tidy and civilized compared to the American frontier. Not that that entirely displeased her. There was a certain peace to this orderly landscape, a soothing serenity to be relished after spending more than a year living in the wilderness. Perhaps each locale had its merits.

Leaving the window open to air out the musty room, she went over to ruffle Leo’s hair. “You’re being rather quiet, young man.”

“I’m setting up my battle. Bang, bang!” He waved the toy soldier in his hand at the opposing regiment, then glanced up at her, his eyes bright. “Will Mr. Duke come here? I want him to see the fight.”

He’d adopted that name for the Duke of Clayton, and she’d given up on dissuading him from it. The innocent hope in his blue gaze tugged at her heart. He craved a man in his life, someone whom he could look up to as a father. But although Clayton had been supportive of Leo’s right to live here, she very much doubted a nobleman of his stature would bother any further with a child, not even one who was related to him by blood.