Page 61 of The Duchess in His Bed
“Fancy, you’re running a business here. You can’t simply give things away. The books you are allowing them to read cost money.”
“I’m not a dolt, Aiden. I’m aware of how business works.”
“So you want to make a profit.”
“Neither am I greedy. A modest profit will suffice. Besides I intend to take donations in order to maintain the reading salon.”
He shifted his gaze to Beast, who quirked one corner of his mouth. None of this was news to his brother, which immediately made Aiden suspicious. He’d not had much time for the family of late, and he had a feeling it was about to cost him. He turned his attention back to his sister. “From whom will you be gathering these donations? Your siblings?”
“For a start. Then others with a charitable bent. Like the duchess, for example.”
He sighed. The duchess couldn’t afford to be charitable—not unless he gave her a child. Although he wasn’t about to share any of that with Fancy.
“We’re also going to teach people how to read,” she continued. “A couple of nights a week, we’ll hold lessons. As you’re well aware, a good many of the poorer among us lack education.”
It was one of the things his mum had insisted upon: her children would attend the free ragged schools. While it was only for half a day, until they reached the age of eleven, she’d never allowed them to miss a day—even when they were ill. She’d wanted to give them whatever advantages she could. “We?”
“Mr. Tittlefitz and I at first. Perhaps you’ll even teach a class.”
“I run my businesses at night.”
“Then I’ll schedule a class in the afternoon. We can discuss it later. At the moment, I want to give the ladies here a tour of the area and gather their opinions on how I might improve it. Ladies, if you’ll follow me?” She began leading them around the room, explaining how she thought one sitting area would appeal to men, another to ladies, yet another to a mother with her children.
“You won’t say no to her, will you?” Selena’s question sounded more like a statement.
He faced her. “She has a way of wrapping us around her finger.”
“And you’ll fund her free library.”
He sighed, striving to sound irritated. He didn’t need her to know how easily he could be won over. “I suspect we all will.”
“Families do for each other.”
He knew what she was saying, what she was explaining with so few words. Just as he would do everything within his power to ensure Fancy was happy, that she had all she wanted, desired, and needed, so Selena would do whatever was necessary to safeguard her sisters and assist them in bringing about their dreams.
Chapter 17
After her sisters and the others returned downstairs, she and Aiden worked in silence, placing the books on the shelves on opposite sides of the fireplace, as though he knew that if they were in easy reach of each other, they would come together again, as though they no longer had a choice, as though their bodies, now familiar to each other’s, had become magnetized and would always seek to rejoin.
Selena had been fascinated watching his interaction with his sister, the easy camaraderie between them, realizing that his irritated tone was feigned, understanding that his sister realized it as well. Fancy would have her bookshop, where people who could afford to do so made purchases, and her reading salon, where people of lesser means could lose themselves in the pages between the covers, where those who might have never known the magic books offered would learn to read and in so doing might better their lives.
Selena had taken her affluence for granted until her parents died, and she’d discovered it had all been false. Even though she had the privilege of being able to read, it had never occurred to her to work because people of her status did not lower themselves to such degrading activities. And yet from the moment she’d crossed the threshold into the shop, she’d been caught up in the excitement of a young woman on the verge of managing her own business. Fancy could do with it as she wished, decorate it as she pleased. She determined how the rooms would be arranged, how the books would line the shelves. So much power. So much risk. Yet Selena suspected the risk added to the excitement because when one had so much to lose, achieving success would be all the sweeter.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
She nearly leaped out of her skin, only then noticing Aiden leaning against her side of the fireplace, his arms crossed over his chest. Why did he always have to appear so masculine, yet so rough? Why was her first thought upon seeing him always how much she longed to wrap her arms around his neck, lift up on her toes, and kiss him? “I was striving to recall if I’d read this book.”
“Liar.”
She laughed lightly, wondering if she’d ever be able to keep a secret from him, wondering if she’d ever want to. Her relationship with him, in spite of its initial deceptions, was the most honest one she’d ever experienced. “You’ve found me out. I was thinking how marvelous it is for your sister to have this opportunity. How brave she is to go forth not knowing the outcome. She could fail.”
“She could succeed.”
“Precisely. Is everyone in your family always so optimistic?”
“Life seldom rewards the faint of heart.”
She shook her head. “I wish I had your sister’s courage.”
