Seducing the Viscount by Alexandra Ivy Page A

as to why you should suddenly arrive on our doorstep.”
    â€œHonestly, I am not entirely certain.” That, in part, was true. If he possessed any sense at all, he would call for his horse and be back in London by this evening. “I only know that after Dunnington died, I . . .”
    Ella’s brown eyes softened in swift sympathy. “What?”
    With an effort, Ian pressed back the raw pain, his hand unconsciously rubbing his chest above his aching heart. The devil take it, would there ever be a day when he could think of his old friend without the savage sense of loss?
    â€œI felt a need to know more of my past.”
    Surprisingly, Ella’s cheerful countenance was darkened by a hint of wariness.
    â€œYour past?”
    Ian stilled. Was it possible that his aunt knew of Lord Norrington’s dark sin?
    â€œThat surely is not so strange.” He leaned back in his chair, the very image of nonchalance. “I know nothing of my mother beyond the fact my father met her on his travels through the Continent and that she died during my childbirth.”
    Ella’s gaze abruptly dropped to her empty plate. “Yes, well, I do not believe that Norry knew her for any length of time.”
    â€œHe must have known her for at least nine months if he was at her side to bring me back to England with him.”
    â€œActually, I believe he had traveled on to Venice when he heard of her death in Rome and returned to collect you from the orphanage.”
    It was certainly plausible, but for some reason Ian felt as if his aunt was hedging. What the devil could she possibly be hiding?
    â€œSo she had no family?”
    â€œNone that she claimed.”
    â€œWas she a common woman or a lady of society?”
    â€œI . . .” Ella was forced to halt and clear her throat. “I believe she might have been a maid in the villa where he was staying. I am sorry I cannot tell you more.”
    Ian gave an unconscious shake of his head. It was not an uncommon story. Many gentlemen made a sport of seducing the local maids. Hell, he’d enjoyed his own share. Ella’s discomfort was no doubt a mere reaction at the thought her perfect paragon of a brother sharing his seed with a common servant.
    â€œIt seems strange that my father would go to the effort to retrieve me and bring me to his home,” he mused. “It surely would have been more in character to simply have offered a sum for my upbringing.”
    Ella lifted her head to regard him with a sad smile. “He is not as heartless as you would choose to believe, Ian. He is a good man.”
    â€œI must take your word for that.”
    â€œIan—”
    He interrupted the words he did not want to hear. “Are there any other bastards?”
    â€œNo.” Ella’s plump hands fluttered at the question. “No, of course not.”
    Ian shrugged. It had occurred to him that his father’s sin might be foisting a brat upon some unsuspecting aristocrat. It was, after all, impossible for a gentleman to know for certain if a child was actually his own, and if his father had been conducting a discrete affair with some society tart, then he might be willing to pay Dunnington to hide the knowledge that he had left a cuckoo in the nest.
    â€œI do not know why you would be shocked. It is not that uncommon for a gentleman to produce more than one by-blow.” His lips twisted. “I merely wondered if I possessed any brother or sisters and why they were not brought to Rosehill.”
    â€œYou are your father’s only child,” Ella said with a soft certainty.
    Ian was struck by a sudden thought. “Yes. Odd, that.”
    â€œWhat is odd?”
    â€œThe old man is getting on in years. Surely he should be fretting over the need to pass his title to a legitimate heir.”
    Ella sucked in a sharp breath. “Really, Ian, this is hardly a proper conversation for the breakfast table.”
    â€œI would think it a