Free The Seduction of an Earl by Linda Rae Sande

granite path leading away from the carriageway. They began to stroll, neither saying anything right away.
    Hannah remembered Elizabeth’s description of her first foray into Hyde Park with George. They, too, had stopped and walked along such a path, although it wasn’t to discuss such serious subjects as bastard children and mistresses.
    Hannah was quite sure it was so they could engage in stolen kisses behind a hedgerow.
    “What is your son’s name?” Hannah wondered, her face not indicating how she felt about hearing of Henry’s son and the woman he claimed to love.
    Henry could not have been more surprised at Hannah’s simple question. “Nathaniel. Nathan,” he amended quickly, keeping his attention on where they were going as much as on her.
    When he didn’t offer more information, Hannah asked, “And how old is Nathan?”
    Henry increased the speed of their walk, still a bit surprised at how calm Hannah seemed. Wouldn’t any other woman of the ton give him the cut direct for having mentioned something as crass as a bastard child? But then, Hannah had mentioned mistresses. “He is ten. A tutor is seeing to his education this year, but he will go off to Abingdon School in the fall,” he said, wondering if that information might help his cause a bit. After all, what potential wife would want an illegitimate child underfoot whilst trying to raise legitimate heirs? The thought made him bristle, but at the same time, he could understand why a wife would not wish there to be daily reminders of a man’s past indiscretions.
    Nathan is not an indiscretion. I loved Sarah. Love Sarah , he amended to himself.
    “So soon?” Hannah countered, her brows furrowed as if she were truly concerned about a boy being sent off to boarding school.
    Henry lifted one shoulder. “I was eleven when I went off to Abingdon,” he countered. “And thirteen when I went to Eton, and seventeen when I went to Oxford.”
    Hannah regarded him with a bit of surprise. From his earlier comments about being a farmer, she wouldn’t have expected him to attend the same schools where so many of the gentlemen of the ton had been educated. “So, you knew you would be an earl someday?”
    A chuckle erupted from Henry, a sound that was rather pleasant to hear from a man that had seemed so serious only a moment ago. “Someone did, I suppose.” He considered asking her why she did not request he take her home immediately. He still half-expected her to do so. And she still hadn’t answered his question about whether he could court her, although she hadn’t dodged the question, either.
    “I only ever had a governess until I went to finishing school in Town,” Hannah said wistfully. “I was rather jealous of my brother. He had a tutor, of course.”
    Henry grinned. “Ah, yes. The older brother,” he said as he remembered the marquess mentioning an heir. “Is he in Town now?”
    Shaking her head, Hannah sighed. “He’s a naval officer. I’ve no idea where he is, nor have I seen him since ...” Her voice trailed off as she considered just when it was she last saw her older brother. “Our mother’s funeral,” she finally realized. “Goodness, it’s been over two years since he was in Town!”
    Secretly glad she hadn’t turned into a watering pot at the mention of her mother’s funeral, Henry found her revelation about her brother’s absence amusing. “Do you miss him now that he’s in the Navy?” he wondered, realizing that conversation came easy with the chit. He could imagine speaking with her like this on a regular basis; over breakfast, should she rise early enough to join him, of course, at luncheon, although he wasn’t always good about coming in from the fields to eat (however, knowing she would be there might be the impetus he needed to do so), and during dinner, for propriety’s sake they would dine together every night. He might have imagined them conversing in bed, perhaps after having made love, when sleep was just