He had been testing the boy. He’d watched and waited to hear the answer. No matter what he might claim to the contrary, the Duke of Clayton was just like the rest of his noble family.

He, too, harbored doubts that Leo was truly Audrey’s son.

Chapter 8

Two days later, Leo vanished.

Natalie discovered his absence upon returning to the schoolroom after going into her bedchamber for a few minutes. She had left him sitting at one of the pint-sized tables, laboriously copying a list of words. Now, slate and chalk lay abandoned on the wooden surface and his chair was empty.

The toy cavalryman that had been on the table was gone, too.

“Leo? Are you here?”

Receiving no answer, she did a quick circuit of the large room to see if he was crouched on the floor, absorbed by a toy. She checked the cupboards to make sure he wasn’t playing a game of hide-and-seek. Then she dashed back down the corridor and into the bedchamber opposite her own. It was empty save for his neatly made cot, a ladderback chair, and the portrait of Audrey hanging on the wall above a chest of drawers.

Dear God, she had lost Audrey’s son again. It was just like a few days ago at the inn. Where could he have gone this time?

Natalie checked the other three bedchambers in the spacious nursery, but the boy wasn’t there, either. Earlier, he’d been restless, wiggling in his chair, and grumpy at the prospect of more lessons. In retrospect, she ought to have realized that he needed the chance to run off his pent-up energy. They’d been stuck in the nursery for the past two days, and she should have taken him outside to explore the grounds on this fine, sunny day—never mind that his snooty relatives might object.

She stepped to the open door and glanced in either direction. “Leo?”

The only response was the echo of her voice in the narrow passageway. There was nothing else on this floor except for a few servants’ bedchambers. Just then, she heard the scrape of footsteps and rushed to the stairs to see a maidservant with an armful of linens trudging up the steps.

“Susan! Did you happen to see Leo just now? He’s gone missing.”

Alarm flashed across her youthful features. “Nay, milady. Shall I look for him?”

“I’ll go. Please stay in the nursery. If he comes back, make sure he remains right here.”

Grabbing her chocolate-brown shawl from the hook by the door, Natalie hurried toward the staircase. She needed to find the boy before he wandered into a part of the house where he was not invited. Heaven knew, it could be a disaster for him to encounter Lord Godwin. Especially after the way the man had cast nasty aspersions on Leo’s birth.

Ever since the Duke of Clayton had revealed that the family suspected her of being a charlatan trying to pass off her own son as nobility, she had resolved to keep Leo away from them. It was only for the time being, she told herself, until Godwin’s solicitor arrived from London to verify the authenticity of the boy’s papers. Then the earl would have to accept Leo as his grandson.