Son of a Duke (31 page)

This was not the Nora he was familiar with, but considering the circumstances, he rather liked her.
 

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.
 

And she smiled even more broadly.
 
"I slept."
 

"You slept?
 
That's it?"
 

"That's...part of it."
 

Her hand was reaching for him, and he batted it away.
 

"No touching."
 

"Nathan, I have not slept like I slept last night in years.
 
Years, Nathan.
 
That is a long time.
 
And I spend one night, half of one night really, with you, and I sleep like it is my only purpose in the world.
 
Excuse me for being excited."
 
She turned sharply away to look out the window.
 

The hack bounced again sending her against him.
 

"I'm sorry, Nora.
 
I didn't realized-"
 

"No, you didn't realize.
 
I have spent every night for the past nine years in a chair.
 
A chair, Nathan.
 
Dozing if I'm lucky.
 
Staring at a stove if I'm not.
 
And last night, I slept in a bed.
 
Full out slept.
 
Slept so hard I woke up confused, and the only thing that made sense was you.
 
You were the first thing I remembered.
 
And that makes me very happy."
 

The last sentence ended on a choked sob, and Nathan felt his stomach roll over.
 
Nora started to cry.
 
She put her face in her hands and bent over, as if hiding from him.
 
Why were all the females in his life suddenly so weepy?
 
She had gone through an entire kidnapping ordeal without so much as a whimper and now she was crying?
 
He was afraid he would have to touch her.

Nathan hauled her upright and onto his lap.
 
Her head fell to his chest as she kept crying.
 
It was not a loud cry, just a slow, soft release of anger, frustration and grief.
 
The wetness penetrated to his chest, and he held her tighter as the hack bounced along.
 

"It makes me very happy as well," Nathan whispered.
 

Nora shook one more time and fell silent.
 

Nathan waited, feeling his heart beating against his ribs, wondering if Nora felt it.
 

"Nathan?"

"Yes?"

"Don't...leave...me.
 
Ever."
 

"I won't.
 
Ever."
 

And with a sigh he felt down to his toes, Nora sat up in his lap.

"I feel better now," she said, "I think I may just have needed to get that out."

Nathan smiled at her.
 
The hack took one more roll and stopped.
 

Nathan leaned forward, gripping Nora, and looked out the window.
 

Temple Church was partly visible through the other traffic on the street.
 
People of questionable hygienic standards strolled the sidewalks.
 
Women shouted their wares for sale.
 
Men spit on the ground at their feet.
 
Nathan reluctantly let Nora slide off his lap onto the bench.
 
Nora kept one hand in his.
 

Hacks passed by, the rare carriage filtered in between.
 
A woman hocked the sad looking flowers in her arms.
 

And then a hack rolled up in front of the church, and a short person jumped out and ran into the Chancel.
 

Nora reached for the door and was out before Nathan could get off the bench to follow her.
 
They crossed the street carefully and went through the door moments after their short prey.
 

The organ loomed up far in the distant gloom.
 
Rows of pillars lined up like slightly intoxicated soldiers, leaning outward.
 
There were no people scattered throughout the pews.
 
The Duchess of Chesterfield was nowhere to be seen.

Nora walked brazenly to the front and spun a circle.
 
Nathan ran after her.
 

"You don't spy by walking out into the open.
 
You get shot by doing that," he whispered harshly to her.
 

"There's no one here, Nathan," Nora pursed her lips at him.
 

The happy Nora of the hack was apparently gone for the time being, and the infallible Miss Quinton had returned.
 

"Well, where did she go?" Nathan whispered.
 

He swung his head in all directions, but there was literally nothing that should not be in a church.
 
Candles, pews, marble, stained glass windows.
 
It was a church without a single parishioner.
 

Until one stepped out from behind a pillar and looked right at him.
 

The muscles in Nathan's midsection unraveled.

Nora turned behind him, and he knew the moment when she saw the big figure in the distant gloom staring at them.
 
She went absolutely rigid.

It was a man, a large one, and Nathan felt all his bruises start to throb in response.
 
He also took a minuscule step in front of Nora.
 
The man watched them.
 
His trousers and boots were muddy and looked too big for him, where as his coat was just a touch too snug and too fine.
 
Like it had just been removed from the original, smaller owner.
 

Nathan took another step in front of Nora.
 

The man watched them as he made his way to the back of the Chancel, slipping something into an inner pocket of the fine coat.
 

The man stopped.

Nora moved in front of Nathan, and he reached to get her out of the way.
   

"You must be the happy couple then?"
 

Nathan and Nora spun in the other direction staring up at the altar where the voice had originated.
 
A priest was coming out from behind the pulpit carrying a Bible.
 

"Happy couple?" Nora asked.
 

"Aye, the pair who wished to be wed today at noon.
 
I was afraid you were going to be late, but here you are.
 
Prompt as prompt can be."
 
The priest's bushy eyebrows rose and fell with his smile.
 
There was more hair in his eyebrows than on his head.
   

"Shall we get started then?
 
The special license arrived just as you said it would.
 
You must only fill in the names."
 
He extended a roll of parchment.
 
"Shall we sign it then and see you two married?"
 

Nora looked around Nathan back at the large man by the door.
 
Nathan looked as well.
 
The man watched them, assessing and then settled a hip against the furthest pew as if getting ready for the show.
   

Nora turned back to the priest, Nathan following her movement.
 

"Yes, we shall," Nora said and grabbed the special license.
 

~

Richard had no idea where his son was.
 

His valet was gone.
 
Some of his clothes were gone.
 

And the servants knew he was gone.
 

But no one in the house knew where he had gone.

Richard was getting angry.
 

He stormed up the steps to his house and nearly collided with Jane in the foyer.
 
Which was rather sad, since he liked colliding with Jane normally.
 
But Jane looked worried, so he controlled himself.
 
Mostly.
 

"What is it now?" he asked.
 

Jane frowned, and Richard was chastised.
 

"Sarah."
 

"Sarah?"

"She's gone after him."
 

"Sarah's gone after him where?
 
We don't know where he is!"
 
Richard slammed his hat and gloves down on the hall table so hard the mirror hanging above it jumped.
 

Jane put her hands on his face and tilted his head down to look at her.
 

Her brown eyes were soft and drew him in.
 
He felt his blood cooling almost immediately.
 

"She left me a note.
 
I didn't see her leave, so I couldn't stop her to ask her where she was going, but I'm sure she will find him.
 
She's smart, Richard.
 
She will find him."
 

Richard brought his hands up to Jane's and drew them away.
 

"Is your son all right?"
 

Richard jumped as if he'd been caught with his hand up Jane's skirt and looked up the stairs where Samuel stood.
 

"I don't know," Richard answered him truthfully.
 

Samuel came down the stairs.
 
"I am certain he is.
 
He is a very resourceful man.
 
He knows what he is doing."
 

Samuel stopped at the bottom of the stairs but would not come any closer to them.
 

Richard still held Jane's hands in his and suddenly released them.
 
He did not miss the smirk Jane gave him.
 
He just chose to ignore it.
 

"And how do you come about that conclusion?" he asked the boy.
 

"He found me, did he not?"
 

"Yes, but he had Nathan's help.
 
And yours."
 

Samuel shook his head.
 
"That does not make a difference."

"I'm still afraid he's going to do something extremely stupid."

"He won't," Samuel was quick to say, "He is too afraid of disappointing you."
 

Richard looked at the boy, how shyly he stood with his hands behind his back and his shoulder not quite out from behind the newel post.
 
And Richard suddenly had an idea.
   

"Do you know how to play poker, Samuel?" Richard asked.
   

Samuel grinned hugely.
 
"Yes, I do, sir."
 

It was hours later when Jane swept the pot toward her and declared, "Full house, gentlemen."
 

Samuel frowned and threw his cards into the pile.
 

"I told you we shouldn't let her play," Richard said from the side of his mouth.
 

Samuel shrugged.
 
"But you did not tell me to listen to you."
 

Richard laughed, and Samuel felt his cheeks turn slightly pink.
 
He did not really make people laugh.
 
It was getting to be a nice experience.
 
One he would not mind repeating.
 

And he liked the Duke of Lofton.
 
He had a voice that made Samuel feel safe.
 
He knew that sounded silly, but that was how he felt.
 
The duchess was still a little scary, but he was starting to not shake when he first saw her.
 
And he liked the little wrinkles around her eyes when she smiled.
 
She must smile a lot to get those wrinkles, he figured.
 

Jane dealt the new hand, sliding the cards across the table at him.
 
He scooped them up and tried not to react.
 
Nathan had told him to put his emotions in his pocket when he sat down at the card table.
 
So that is what Samuel did.
 
He had two nines, an ace, a four and a jack.
 
Not too bad to start.
 

He went to toss in his bet.
 

"Playing poker, again?"
 

Samuel jumped, and the chip went flying.
 
The Duke of Lofton caught it deftly and winked.
 
Samuel turned to his mother who had suddenly appeared at the library door and became immediately alarmed.
 

She looked weird.
 

Her cheeks were reddish, and her hands were loose at her sides.
 
Her hair was in a braid across her shoulder when he was sure she had left with it in a bun.
 
The dark circles that were normally under her eyes were only gray smudges that were mostly hidden by her big smile.
 

Samuel was terrified.
 

"Mama, what did you do?"
 

She grinned more, and Samuel almost peed himself.
 

Nathan appeared in the doorway behind her.
 
"We got married!" he shouted, also grinning stupidly.
 

Samuel felt himself stand, but then he could not move.
 

"Really?" he whispered, almost afraid that everything would suddenly change back to what it had been if he questioned it.
 

"Yes, really," his mother answered him.
 

And then he ran.
 
He ran across the room and knocked his mother into Nathan with the force of his hug.
 

"Really really?" he asked, looking up at her.