Just like that she took Selena under her wing, which was something Aiden wanted to provide for her: shelter and comfort. But he would be relegated to doing it all in shadows, hidden away. His father had hidden him away, still took no pleasure in his existence. It seemed no matter how much success he attained, it was never enough to make him respectable.

“Ye kissed her yet, guv?”

Aiden glanced down at the little urchin who had for some years lived in Gillie’s tavern, but now resided at the horse farm with Finn. The lad had probably seen eight years or so, although they weren’t certain. They knew only that he was an orphan, like so many. “A gentleman never tells, Robin.”

“But ye ain’t a gentleman. Ye be a scoundrel. That’s what Mum says.”

Mum. Lavinia. The boy had taken quickly to having a family. “She doesn’t know everything.”

Robin’s expression turned mutinous, no doubt because he believed Aiden had insulted the woman he considered to be his mother, and Aiden expected the lad to come at him with fists flying. “Although on that particular matter she is correct. I am a scoundrel.”

“And a lazy one at that,” Fancy said as she neared, a bright smile wreathing her face with joy. She placed her hand on top of Robin’s head. “Why don’t you help the duke place books on the shelves? He’s working in the animal section.”

With a smart salute, the lad dashed off.

“The animal section?” Aiden asked.

“If you’d joined us in our little circle a moment ago, you’d have learned that I have divided the shop into sections according to the types of books to be found there.” She waved a foolscap with some sort of layout and markings in front of his nose. She would be eight and ten in a few months, but already had a good head on her shoulders for business, no doubt having learned quite a bit from her older siblings. Mick had sent her to a posh finishing school to prepare for her introduction into Society. His desire to see Fancy well situated among the nobility had been one of his motivations for achieving the success he had. “Upstairs is a sitting room. You’ll find some boxes marked with an S. If you’ll haul them up and assist the duchess in arranging them on the shelves—”

“Which duchess?” There was Selena, of course, but his sister Gillie was also a duchess, not that she was yet comfortable with that title.

Fancy smirked. “The one you’re interested in, naturally. I thought you might appreciate having a task that wouldn’t have everyone watching you. She seems rather nice. I like her sisters.”