“That youngest whelp of his. Never can remember his name.”

“Jasper,” the girl supplied brightly, then glanced around rather abashedly and lowered her gaze to her plate. “At least I believe that’s him.”

Hadrian detected a spark of interest in her and wondered if he had a competitor for her hand. The possibility disturbed him less than he’d have expected.

Before he could wonder why, Lady Godwin arose from the table. “Ellen, shall we leave the men to their port? We can wait in the drawing room.”

Lady Ellen displayed an eagerness to depart the table. A vision in pale rose silk, she sprang up from the chair and trailed her mother out the doorway.

Watching her depart, Hadrian thought it a pity she couldn’t be more like Natalie. Two women could hardly be more dissimilar in temperament. Where Ellen seemed to shy from meeting his eyes, Natalie had a saucy confidence and a readiness to voice her opinions. He’d had no trouble whatsoever conversing with her; in fact, he’d vastly enjoyed it. They might not always agree, but he appreciated Natalie for being open and forthright. That must be why, despite the obvious differences in their stations, he’d come to regard her as his equal.

How peculiar to admit that. For all of his adult life, he had been accustomed to being the one in charge. To having people behave with deference toward him. It wasn’t something he demanded of anyone, it simply was. Those beneath his rank asked his opinions and yielded to his decisions. They bowed or curtsied to show their respect.

Except Natalie. She alone refused to pander to him. Her disregard for convention had disarmed and intrigued him.

Perhaps that explained why he’d confided in her today. From any other woman, such personal questions would have earned a frosty stare from him. Instead, he’d blurted out truths about his childhood that he’d never before revealed to anyone else. Memories such as the lack of toys in the nursery. Being separated at the age of five from his mother and sister. His pony Mud that he hadn’t thought about in years. At least he’d had the sense not to mention the part about crying himself to sleep for a week after Mud had been sold.

Natalie had listened closely and then apologized for misjudging him. But she had not backed down about him buying a pony for Leo. Although Hadrian hated to admit it, she was probably right about the wisdom of rewarding the boy for bad behavior. But damn it, he didn’t want Audrey’s son to be deprived of the joys of childhood as he himself had been.

Wait. Had he been deprived? Natalie couldn’t be right about that, too, when he’d convinced himself otherwise.

“Pray leave us,” Lord Godwin said.

Jolted out of his reverie, Hadrian realized the earl was addressing his son. Wymark lounged in his chair, a nosy expression on his narrow features. “Is this about my sister? Is there to be an announcement forthcoming?”