Son of a Duke by Jessie Clever Page B

call me Nathan, not sir.   My father is sir, and I am definitely not old enough to be called sir.   Understood?" Nathan said.  
    Nora felt a pang in her stomach.   What was it that Nathan promised her son?   Surely, he could not be speaking of seeing her son again.   And if he were speaking of promises he did not intend to keep, she would not have him around her son.
    Samuel looked up to his mother, back at Nathan, and back up to Nora.  
    Nora spoke, "I do not believe you will have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Black again, Samuel, but it is kind of him to make such an offer."
    Nathan stood so abruptly, Nora backed up involuntarily.
    "I would have hoped you would allow me to see more of you and your son, Miss Quinton."  
    Nora watched Nathan's eyes in the lamplight, sparkling blue in the dimness.   Something gripped her.   She did not know what it was or what it meant, but it felt like she was suddenly safe.   Like all the worry and anxiety she carried on her shoulders had simply been removed.  
    "We are quite busy during the week, si-Nathan.   I am not sure we would have a moment."  
    She was not certain why she was defending herself, pushing back an offer from a gentleman that was nothing less than decent.   But there lay a niggle of suspicion still deep within her, and she could not yet let it go and wondered if she ever could.
    "Of course," Nathan said, and Nora watched something change in his face.  
    The moment was gone as quickly as it had come, and Nora instantly regretted whatever she had done to make it disappear.
    Nora gently turned Samuel's face up to her.   "Will you run to the kitchen and grab the medicine box for me, please?"  
    "Is it for the man who was shot?   I do not think a medicine box will help, Mama."
    Her ever practical son was not yet mature enough to feel the undercurrents moving between the adults in the room.
    Nora felt her lips turn up just slightly at the tips.  
    "No, it is not for him.   Bring it along to the study, and then you should be off to bed.   The music room drapes need to be beaten out tomorrow.   You will need your rest."  
    Samuel nodded sharply with a stern, "Yes, ma'am," before taking off like he was on the most important mission in the world.   He skidded to a sudden halt at the door to look over his shoulder at Nathan.   "It was a pleasure speaking with you as well, Nathan."   He disappeared through the ballroom doors.  
    Nora finally turned to look at Nathan, the shroud of seriousness returning with the unexpected suddeness of a cold wind on a spring day.  
    "We should move along to the study.   It is getting late, and there is still quite a bit we should discuss."
    Nora just nodded at him and turned toward the door, not bothering to pick up her skirts as she made her way through the mess.  

CHAPTER FOUR

    "Is that going to sting?"
    "You will never find out if you do not allow me to tend your wound."   Nora shoved him into a chair by the fire, feeling he was more trouble than Samuel ever was.
    She busied herself with the supplies from the medicine box even though she really need not have.   She was suddenly unsure if her nerves were up to touching him, and she would be touching him a great deal to clean his wound.   It was only a small slice across his upper arm, but she would still need to rip his shirt to get to it.   Or have him remove his shirt.   She grabbed the table to keep from falling down.   No, he would definitely not be removing his shirt.   She refolded the clean cloth she was going to use to bind the cut with for the eighth time and decided she had had enough of her own foolishness.
    Nathan sat rather calmly while Nora worked up the courage to actually touch him.   It was a remarkable thing to watch her face, watch her eyes glint as one thought passed into another, her lips turned slightly up at the corners again but pressed solidly together in the middle.  
    He had removed his coat and folded it across the back of the chair