Page 59 of The Duchess in His Bed
“You’re nice.”
He winked at her. “That should remain our secret as well.”
She giggled, and damn if he didn’t understand why Selena wanted to ensure her sisters made good marriages. He’d known too many women who had been abused or lived harsh lives, women who aged before their time, worn out by the burdens that life had given them to bear. It was the reason they’d supported Gillie when she wanted to open her tavern, and now Fancy with her bookshop. They all wanted Fancy to marry well, but if no man was wise enough to ask for her hand, she’d have her business to see her through, and her siblings each had the means to ensure she never did without. Alice couldn’t rely on her brother in the same manner, in spite of his title.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Glancing back, Aiden stepped aside as Mick’s secretary, carrying a cumbersome box, edged past him.
“Lady Alice,” the young man said, his face turning a bright red that almost matched the shade of his hair. “Miss Trewlove thought the volumes in this box were best suited to this portion of the shop.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tittlefitz.”
He set down the box, stepped back, and didn’t seem to know what to do next. He cleared his throat. “She also thought I should assist you. I can place books on the higher shelves if you like.”
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
With a shake of his head, wondering if his younger sister was striving to play matchmaker, Aiden went to retrieve his own boxes. Or box, as the one Beast pointed to in the storage room was incredibly heavy. Still, he hefted it onto his shoulder and headed through the shop and up the stairs to what Fancy had designated as the reading room. From a previous afternoon spent assisting her, he knew clusters of small sitting areas were arranged throughout the space, and bookcases lined each side of the fireplace and stretched out along one wall. The rooms on the floor above would serve as her lodgings, which meant another afternoon of hauling things—furniture and personal belongings—up. Not that he was complaining. His mum had taught him that family did for family and did so without grumbling.
All thoughts of being inconvenienced drifted away when he crossed the threshold and caught sight of Selena standing by the window, gazing out on the street below, with the afternoon sunlight washing over her. He didn’t much like her widow’s weeds, the way they reminded him she’d had a recent loss. She was buttoned up to her chin, down to her wrists. He imagined the pleasure it would bring him to set all the buttons free. Even knowing she intended to use him, he couldn’t seem to not want her. He set down the box in the middle of the room. “You’re not working nearly as diligently as your sisters.”
With a smile softening her face, she glanced over at him. “I was just watching people going on with their lives. It’s an odd thing, how one’s life can seem all out of kilter, and yet the world carries on as though nothing is amiss.”
Joining her, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a shoulder against the window’s edge. “I’m sure there are people down below whose world is equally awry.”
“But you wouldn’t know it to watch them. I’m discovering that you can’t look at someone and know the trials they face. We all wear masks. They just aren’t as visible as the ones worn at your club.”
“You seem of a maudlin mood.”
“I lied to my sisters. I’m keeping secrets from them. They might not appreciate this outing so much if they knew the true purpose behind it.”
“I like them.”
She gave a curt laugh. “Do you? That was a rather quick assessment.”
“The twins gossip. Alice reads. They’re not complaining about the tasks set before them. They have dreams. They aren’t that different from Fancy.”
“Did you think they would be?”
He wasn’t quite certain what he’d expected. He wished he’d known Selena when she was their ages. How innocent might she have been? How had the burdens of caring for her family weighed on her? Finn had been a lad when he’d fallen in love with the woman who eventually became his wife. At the time Aiden had thought his brother a fool but now could see the advantage of knowing a person, of watching as circumstances slowly shaped the girl into the woman she would become. “If you have a son”—if I give you a boy—“what exactly would he inherit other than a title?”
Pursing her lips, she turned her attention once more to the traffic on the cobblestoned street, the people rushing along the bricked pathways. “The ducal estate—Sheffield Hall—as well as two earldoms.”
“He’d have three titles?”
“Yes.”
Three estates, three titles. He could never offer that to any other children he might have, if he had children. “Where is this Sheffield Hall?”
“Kent.”
“You can reach it in a day?”
“A few hours by coach.”
Possibly faster by railway, although that mode of transport put her at risk of being seen with him. Now he was the one staring at people going on about their lives. He’d always preferred the shadows, but damn if he didn’t want to walk with her in the sunlight, to not be a dark secret she would forever have to keep hidden away. But a dukedom and two earldoms were more than he would ever hold, and he wanted his children to have more than he could ever possibly attain. With a curt nod, he turned away from the window. “We’d best get to work here.”
She touched his arm. He stilled and glanced back at her.
