“If my suspicions are correct, and he did this as a way to win me over, if I were to invite him over for tea, perhaps he would feel a need to share the lengths he will go to in order to have me.”

“No. I want you nowhere near the bastard.”

“I wouldn’t be alone. You and the chief inspector would be on hand, hidden away somewhere, listening, as it would be important that an officer of the law hear his words.”

“No.”

“Aiden—”

“For two reasons, Lena. First, the risk to you is far too great. He could very well run mad when he discovers you—we—duped him and harm you. And second, if he is found guilty of committing a crime for which he would hang—and trust me, I would not at all mind seeing him hang—I believe there is a chance the Crown would take his title and properties, which would leave his heir with nothing.”

Her eyes softened. “And you won’t do that to your brother, even though you don’t know him.”

Aiden gave a brisk nod. “Finn and I will deal with him, and he will rue the day we were ever born.”

She had no reason to stay, and yet Selena couldn’t bring herself to leave. If she hadn’t fallen in love with Aiden before, she would have done so tonight as she watched the gentleness with which he tended his mother, wiping her brow, ensuring she drank more milk. Told her pleasant tales from his childhood about a dog he’d once had, his love of mincemeat pies, the books he enjoyed reading.

Selena sat in a nearby chair, knowing he was painting a pretty picture of his life for this woman so she would harbor no guilt for not having raised him herself.

“My brothers and I were always getting up to some mischief, Gillie usually tagging along behind us. Mum managed to keep a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothes on our backs. Shoes were sometimes an issue, but I never minded going barefoot. I liked all the different textures my feet would encounter, and I could run faster without the weight.” His eyes met and held Selena’s, and she remembered how insistent he’d been about removing her shoes that first night. She wondered if he’d ever frolicked barefoot in clover. She wished they’d had an opportunity to go on a picnic near a river.

“You loved the woman who took you in,” the countess said weakly.

“I still do. The way she cared for us, you’d have not thought she hadn’t given birth to us.”