Son of a Duke

by Jessie Clever

  Nora felt her heart constrict at the faint sound of hope in her son's voice.

  "Of course," Richard said, speaking with such casual assurance Samuel could not doubt his sincerity.

  Samuel's shoulders straightened immediately, and Nora's heart constricted more. Nathan laid a hand on hers under the table. She turned her hand over and squeezed his.

  "First things first," Richard said, "I need to bestow my wedding gift upon my son."

  Nathan's, Nora's, and Samuel's heads all swung around at once.

  "Gift?" Nathan asked, his voice suddenly weak.

  "Yes, gift. I set it aside a long time ago in case you ever got married. Frankly, I never thought you would, but now that you have I'm very pleased to hand it over to you."

  He pulled a folded piece of parchment out of the inside of his jacket and extended his arm across the table. Nathan did not reach up to grab it, so Nora did, taking the parchment in her fingertips and holding it in front of her husband.

  Nathan stared at it, and Nora squeezed his hand harder under the table. He looked at her and finally took the parchment.

  He was silent for some moments after he unfolded it, and the anxiety was starting to make Nora insane.

  "What is it?" she finally hissed at him.

  Samuel leaned into her. "Yes, what is it, Father?"

  Nathan did not look up from the parchment. "It's...land."

  "Land?" Nora repeated.

  "Land?" Samuel repeated her.

  "Holdings really. Down in Kent. A baron died about a decade ago with no heirs and somehow the land came into the family. I didn't need it, so I deeded it off into your name." Richard sipped his tea casually. "I hope you don't mind being a farmer after this whole business with Napoleon is over."

  Nora felt tears burning in her eyes and looked up to find Nathan's eyes had gone glassy with tears as well. His fingers had lost their grip on hers, or maybe hers had lost their grip on his. She did not know, but then they both stood together and strode around to the other side of the table. Richard was already on his feet when they got there, taking them into his arms as Nora and Nathan embraced him with all the gratitude that was welling up inside them. Samuel appeared and wrapped his own arms around everyone's waist. Nora did not feel silly at all hugging a duke in the middle of his morning room during breakfast.

  When they finally separated, Richard had his own tears in his eyes. "I take care of my children," he said and smiled at all of them, looking down at Samuel to give him his own smile.

  "Oh."

  Jane jumped up from her chair and embraced them as well. Jane was amazingly strong, and Nora felt a sense of comfort she had not felt in years. She had not only married a man with land, but she had married a man with family. And that meant so much more than any amount of land.

  Matthew Thatcher cleared his throat somewhere behind them.

  Jane turned and shook her hand at him. "Alright, alright. What were we talking about?"

  "Saving the world from Napoleon," Thatcher said, leaning back in his chair.

  Nora and Nathan sat back down, Nathan drawing Samuel onto his knee.

  "What do we know about Dover?" Richard asked.

  Nathan was already shaking his head. "Nothing. It's crawling with agents who haven't heard so much as a belch of conspiracy."

  "Then why would they want us to go there?" Richard responded.

  "I don't know. Unless there is something going on there, and the agents haven't figured it out. Something that they were supposed to figure out."

  Richard frowned. "I would hope our men and women are more well trained than that."

  "Maybe they are trained well; they're just not looking in the right places."

  Everyone looked at Nora.

  "What places?" Richard asked.

  "Below stairs," she said.

  Samuel nodded furiously in Nathan's lap. "Lots happens below stairs."

  "What sort of agents do you have in Dover?" Nora asked.

  "Mostly members of the peerage. We put all the really top agents down there," Richard replied.

  "Members of the peerage wouldn't even know there was a below stairs in which to look," Jane said.

  "I agree, so what should we do, and more specifically what should I do?" Thatcher asked.

  Richard pointed at Thatcher. "Your only task is to find my wayward son and his wife. I'm afraid he's gone off and done something very stupid, and when he realizes he's done something very stupid, I don't want him to be alone with a wife who will likely murder him." He turned to Nora and Nathan. "You two are going to Dover. Samuel, you're coming with me and Jane."

  "I am?" Samuel asked, incredulous.

  "I need someone who can scamper below stairs unencumbered." Richard was already standing.

  Samuel jumped out of Nathan's lap and nearly ran over to his new grandfather. "Where is it that I'll be scampering?"

  "Amongst the servants of Lord Archer's townhouse. I want to know where the good man is."

  "I would imagine he's gone on to the Earl of Kent's country dance," Nora put in.

  Richard nodded. "Except he never showed up. Our man down there said Lord Archer never left Lord Heathenbaum's."

  "The Duchess of Chesterfield passed a note to that man in the church yesterday. Would that have something to do with it?" Nathan asked.

  Richard shook his head. "Lord Archer disappeared before that. Right after you shot the wrong man actually."

  "Word traveled that quickly?" Jane asked.

  Thatcher spoke up this time. "Maybe it wasn't our word that was traveling."

  It was his turn to be stared at by the population of the room.

  "Maybe something went down on the other side of the spy game."

  "You mean from Napoleon?" Richard asked.

  "Yes, I mean, you found Archer out for the spy he was after all. Maybe he was making serious mistakes, and the other team eliminated a weak player before it cost them."

  "Who would do the eliminating?" Richard asked.

  "The Duke of Chesterfield was not at Gregenden House the other night," Nora said.

  Richard was already nodding. "But would Napoleon risk one of his top spies on such a trivial task?"

  "Maybe they didn't eliminate him. Yet," Nathan said.

  "What else would they need him for?" Jane asked.

  "That's what I intend to find out," Richard said, grabbing Samuel's hand. "Nora and Nathan, you'd best start for Dover. You have at least a four days ride ahead of you. And if Alec's gone in the same direction, he has a two day head start." He turned to Jane. "My love, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a spying excursion?"

  "Oh, it would be my pleasure," Jane replied.

  Nora looked at her son. "Samuel, will you be all right while I'm gone?"

  "Of course, Mama, do not worry. I'll be fine. And Nathan, I mean Father, will take care of you." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek before walking out the door with his grandfather.

  Nora felt Nathan's hand slip into hers.

  "I've never spent the night away from him," she said, feeling the tears gather in her eyes but not feeling the need to let them fall.

  Nathan squeezed her hand in reply, and she felt suddenly, infinitely better.

  And then Samuel ran back in the room. Nora turned, startled and worried that maybe Samuel was not as fine with this as he had said. He ran up to Nathan and leaned in close.

  "I think of you as my father. Not that other man. I'm very lucky to be able to call you Father," he whispered to Nathan, "I just wanted to make sure you knew that."

  Nathan stared at him for a long moment while Nora's heart thundered so loudly in her chest that it hurt her ears. What was Nathan thinking? What was Samuel thinking? Oh God, the silence was killing her.

  But then Nathan carefully gathered Samuel close, and when he shut his eyes, tears fell down his cheeks.

  ~

  The carriage was well sprung, but the road was horrendous. Nathan bounced into his sleeping wife again and curs
ed at himself. She was exhausted, which was mostly his fault, and she needed the rest, but he could not hold onto her with the carriage rocking this way and that. The carriage finally settled again, but Nora was awake. Nathan felt her stretching along his side. Which in turn felt really good to him.

  He set his booted feet back up on the opposite bench in an attempt to stretch out himself and most of all, relax. Being in such close proximity to his wife and not being able to do anything was killing him.

  "Are we still on the road?" Nora asked, somewhere around his shoulder.

  "I hope so."

  "Mmm." This was said against his neck, and a shiver spiraled through him.

  The carriage rocked along the road. Nathan watched the trees pass by outside the window. The forest was dense, and there was really nothing else to look at. He would have liked to just look at his wife, but she was already far too fetching without looking at her, and he knew he would not be responsible for his actions if he did look at her. So instead, he looked at a bunch of dumb trees.

  And thought about what Samuel had said. Samuel was lucky to call him Father? Nathan had thought he had been given everything in the world when Nora had said she loved him, but it turned out there was still something missing. Something very important. He had wanted to be as good of a father as his own father had been. It seemed that Samuel had just told him it was so.

  "Do you want to be a farmer?" Nora asked after some time, still nuzzling his neck.

  "I don't know. I've never thought about it."

  Her hand touched his face, and he looked down at her. He sucked in his breath. When they had gotten into the carriage, she had taken off her bonnet and pulled all the pins from her hair. She had promptly curled up against him and fallen asleep. Now her hair was loose around her shoulders, and the gray bruises that had been so prominent under her eyes were gone. Her eyes were warmer, livelier. Hopeful.

  "I'm excited," she said.

  He smiled down at her. "I can tell."

  She sat up, her hair swishing at her shoulders. "You can?"

  He nodded. "You look happy. Really happy, not that secretive I-know-something-you-don't kind of happy you were when we first met."

  She scrunched her face, which almost made him laugh since she had never done that before.

  "I was what kind of happy?"

  "You always kind of smiled but never really smiled. Like you had a secret, and it drove me nuts. I wanted to know your secret, but I also wanted you to be really happy. Not just conditionally happy."

  She narrowed her eyes. "Why did you want to know my secret?"

  "I wanted to know what made you happy, so I could make you really happy."

  "You make me happy," she said plainly, and his heart did a little jig in his chest.

  "You make me happy," he said.

  "So does this mean we can be farmers?"

  "Certainly." He pulled her back against him because he could. Her head fell to his shoulder, and she nuzzled his neck again. He was beginning to realize she liked doing that. And then her hand crept over his stomach and. . . lower.

  "How long before we stop for the night?" she asked.

  Nathan felt the temperature of his blood rise.

  "A few hours. Why?"

  She touched him through his breeches, not making a verbal response but making her intentions clear.

  He grabbed her wrist.

  "Here? Now?"

  She sat up again and smiled. "Why not?"

  She kissed him, forcing his lips apart so his tongue somehow made its way inside her mouth. The damn woman was seducing him again. He reeled and clutched the bench cushion to keep from falling off the seat. Nora ran her hands under his greatcoat, pushing the material from his shoulders. He felt the cool air stab at his skin through his thin shirt, but the heat of her hands quickly replaced the cold, and he was suddenly burning with a fire so hot he thought he might incinerate right there in the carriage.

  The buttons of his shirt came undone, and Nora's wicked hands were on his bare flesh. Her lips broke from his to follow the path of her hands down his chest. He knew where she was going and stopped her.

  "You had all the fun last time. Now it's my turn."

  He threw her on the opposite bench, her skirts flying up around her waist. He came down between her knees, running his hands up the satin stockings on her calves. There was something incredibly sexy about her covered legs just then. He knew she watched him as he undid the double-knotted bows holding the stockings up. And he watched her watch him as he drew the stockings down and off, slowly and one at a time.

  He reached for the ribbon drawstring of her pants. He played with it and watched Nora's eyes glaze over. Finally, he untied it and ran his finger along the waistband, pulling at the ribbon and loosening the fabric around her waist. His hands dove below the waistband at her back, cupping her buttocks and drawing her against him. He brought his hands down and around, pulling her pants with them. He heard her suck in her breath when the cool air hit her throbbing flesh, and he felt his own response as his breeches became uncomfortably snug.

  He parted her delicate folds with a single fingertip, watched the way she quivered at the slightest touch. He slipped that one fingertip inside of her, just a little ways in, felt her muscles straining against the intrusion. And then he gripped her thighs, replacing his hand with his mouth.

  Nora exploded, her body coming undone at the seams and falling, infinitely falling, down a tunnel of light with no end. She thought she was still holding onto the bench, but she did not know any more. All of her senses were scattered except where Nathan continued to touch her. There, they hammered and vibrated in a delirious confusion of touch, taste, sight and smell. So many feelings at once that none could be defined.

  Nathan finally backed away, and she whimpered at the loss of his heat. She heard fabric rustling, and Nathan returned to that throbbing place between her legs. Her eyes were closed, and she did not have the strength to open them, but Nathan's voice was softly asking her to look at him, to watch him. Her eyelids responded without effort from her. Nathan leaned over her.

  "I want to watch you when I come into you," he said.

  Nora thought she nodded, but again, she could not be sure. She felt him pushing at her. There was no resistance, and he came fully inside of her, deep, so very deep, touching the core of her body. She unconsciously slid further down the bench to see if he would fit any further inside of her. Nathan groaned and gripped her hips. He began to move, hard and fast. She threw her head back as the sensation erupted from her in a choked scream. She felt the tide rising again, felt her body fighting the coming climax while urging it on. It came, silently, stealthily, and she shattered before she knew what was happening to her. And all of her senses imploded, leaving her in a mindless void.

  Nathan laid half on Nora and half on the bench. The carriage rolled along as if nothing at all had occurred inside of it. Nora panted in Nathan's ear, and a stocking tickled his cheek. He pushed himself up, his legs holding him upright even though they felt remarkably like marmalade. Nora's eyes were closed and her head was twisted in an awkward angle between the bench and the back of the carriage. She could not be comfortable, but she also did not appear to want to move.

  Nathan fastened his breeches and found Nora's pants on the floor of the carriage. He carefully put them back on her but did not bother with her stockings. Through the whole laborious process, Nora never stirred. Nathan was beginning to worry, but when he sat on the bench to pull her on his lap, she snuggled against him, rubbing her nose against his neck.

  "I love you," he whispered, simply because he felt like saying it.

  Nora mumbled against his neck, and he smiled.

  The carriage rolled on, and Nathan slept with his wife in his lap.

  Sometime later, Nora placed her palm over Nathan's heartbeat, let it beat against her hand as his chest rose and fell in the steady rhythm of sleep. She felt his breath ruffle her hair and watched the trees pass by the window. The carr
iage hit a rut, and she gripped Nathan tighter to hold on.

  And she thought she could be a farmer. How hard could it be to stick things in the earth and watch them grow? Probably ridiculously hard, but she and Nathan could do it. They would do it. Together.

  The parchment in the pocket of Nathan's greatcoat crinkled under Nora's cheek. She wondered where the holdings were in Kent. Not that it made a difference to her since she had never been in Kent. But she wondered if there was a stream on the property, if there were great green fields that rolled on and on or if there were massive forests of daunting old trees that cocooned the farm in safety. Mere days ago she would never have imagined a world beyond her little room with the worn chair and the small fireplace. And now there were holdings. Entire fields ready for her to work with, to watch things grow and prosper.

  Her hand drifted down to her stomach. Would she walk with her baby through those fields? She knew Samuel would probably walk her through the fields, but she wanted a new, young life to teach and to watch grow. She wanted to see Nathan holding their child, simply holding the life that they created. She wanted Samuel to have a little brother or sister to protect and cherish. Nora briefly thought again of a ratty chair and a tiny stove, and a smile suddenly pulled at her lips. The air whooshed out of her as she realized she was ready to smile about it all. Three full days had not passed, and already she was smiling about the dismal life she had been leading until then.

  She leaned her head back to look at Nathan. His face was relaxed in sleep, the bruises along his jaw nearly faded away. She slipped off his lap and retrieved her stockings and shoes. How he had gotten her shoes off without her knowing was beyond her. When she was once more fully presentable, she snuggled up to Nathan's side, dropped her head on his shoulder, and let the safety in his nearness lull her to sleep.

  ~

  The carriage had stopped moving.

  Nathan came awake slowly, his breath never faltering from a steady rhythm, his muscles never tightening from their relaxed sleep state. Nora was pressed against his side. She had one hand on his thigh and her head resting on his shoulder. His arm was pinned beneath her. After hearing nothing except his wife's inhalations and exhalations, Nathan opened a single eye just enough to see out the window. There was nothing there except the dense woods that had been chasing them for the entire journey since London.