Autistic faux-pas

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I've done it again -
Two people at a group were discussing another person, obviously negatively, in hushed tones. I picked up on it as I had also recently had a problem with this person and I was interested to find out how normal people interpreted situations and people like this. So I stood nearby and half listened, half lip read.
Later, one of the people speaking gave me a disclaimer about how they didn't intend to gossip, giving me an odd look and adding "since you heard all that."
Whoops. They obviously think I was shamelessly eavesdropping.
I had no awareness of this, it was just a subject I was interested in being discussed.
In my defence though if it was indeed a private conversation, they could have had it in private, or when they noted me paying attention, could simply have informed me that it was a private discussion, and I would have understood and gone elsewhere. I'm assuming telling me to beat it would have been considered too impolite, though.
Anyone else committed similar faux-pas recently?

I think it depends on how their conversation started. Were you already nearby, or were you passing by the conversation and stop to listen?

Unless I am invited into a discussion, I simply try to ignore it. If I am passing by a conversation, I just keep walking. I figure if they think it is important for me to know, they will tell me. Otherwise it IS eavesdropping.