His Bewitching Jewel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 7) (15 page)

Finn wanted to strangle Giselle. She was being a horrid little bitch and enjoying every moment of it.

Her face a burning scarlet, Ruby sighed, and left the Dining Room. Mr. Chegwin followed her.

“Ah, I thought the little chit would never leave. I don’t know why you picked her to replace me, Finn. She is such a plain little thing, and rather amply proportioned. I wasn’t aware that you liked them so…curvaceous.”

“You need to stop before you dig your hole any deeper, Giselle.”

“I am your mistress, and I have come here to take my place by your side. I have come here to marry you, you silly little man. I have come here to save you from yourself. I have come here to save you from that. So, let us kiss and make up, and we shall spend the night planning our wedding, and thinking of various academies that we could send your precious little nieces to.”

“I don’t want to marry you, Giselle. And Lady Miranda and Lady Cordelia are not being sent away from Penryn House. Do you understand?”

“You proposed to me once.” She seemingly hadn’t heard his judgement on sending the girls away. She hadn’t wanted to hear him that was it.

“That was a mistake,” he said tersely. How had he ever made love to this woman? She was repulsive. She had no heart to speak of. Her selfish and vain attitude made him want to have her thrown out of the house.

“A mistake, you call what we shared a mistake? And taking me—and keeping me the way you did in London…that was a mistake as well?” she asked icily. She was eying him as if she would stab him with one of the knives on the table.

“Yes. It was a grievous error on my part. Besides, we both know you weren’t an innocent when it came to that sort of a life. You had been kept by Lord Lumley until his coffers dried up. You had a hand in that though, didn’t you? You encouraged all of his vices…you encouraged him to gamble it all away. You probably thought it a merry little game, or you saw me and decided that you had to move onto the fatter gander.” Oh, he had been such a fool. He reviled himself. He had been so weak.

“I am weary,” she said tiredly, feigning a yawn, and daintily placing her hand over her mouth.” I have traveled forever and a day to see you here. I even hired myself my own carriage. I shan’t be turned away so easily. I fight for what is mine, and that little minx is nothing against me. I shall make short work of her. She looks so timid—why, she looks as if she is afraid of her own shadow,” Giselle tittered, gaining quite a good deal of amusement out of her assessment of Ruby.

“I am, and never was, yours, Mrs. Brant. You were a passing diversion. You were a good little bit of fun. However, that fun has ended. I have remunerated you quite well for all of your services. If it wasn’t enough, I shall give you another one thousand pounds.”

“One thousand pounds is a bloody paltry sum compared to what I could have as the Duchess of Camblesforth. I want it all, Finn.”

“You will never be the Duchess of Camblesforth. That is now meant for another, and it is not you—and,” he paused. “It could never have been you.”

She was a woman whom he had paid for the pleasure of her company. How had she ever believed that he could marry her and make her respectable? The ton would never accept her, and now…now that so much had changed, he could no longer accept her.

“Ah, don’t be so sore with me, Finn. Ah, I understand. You have fallen for that drab little chit, haven’t you? You have fallen for the governess. Oh, how romantic. Pity I now have to put an end to it all. She shan’t become your wife. I will do whatever I have to in order to keep that from happening. Come now, don’t be cross, Finn. I have come a long way to be reunited with you. And I am quite famished,” she said, sitting down where Ruby had sat. She looked at him expectantly. “Well, are you going to dine with me or not? If you are lucky, I shall reward you greatly afterward.”

He felt sick. He wanted to distance himself from this woman. She was a shrew. How had he ever seen it before? He knew the answer to that. He hadn’t seen it because he had been drunk half the time, and he hadn’t seen yet found Ruby. Once he had the priceless jewel, everything else paled in comparison. Giselle looked like a piece of worthless paste compared to Ruby.

“Get yourself up,” he hissed, grabbing her by her arm. “And the footmen shall show you to a guest room. You may rest there tonight, and upon the morrow, I expect you to climb back into your carriage, and hasten back to London.”

“Stop it, Finn. That really hurt,” she said, pulling away from him, and giving him a fake grimace. “You were never rough like that before. I thought you were a gentleman.”

“If I was being rough with you, Mrs. Brant, you would know it.”

She looked away from him. “I won’t leave this room until I get some food into my belly,” she said, stubbornly turning away from him and taking a seat again.

He groaned. “Fine, Mrs. Brant. Have it your way, although, you will be eating alone. Do you understand? I shan’t have anything to do with you, nothing whatsoever.” He threw down his napkin and stormed from the room.

“Your Grace,” Mr. Chegwin said, rushing to him.

“What is it now?” he asked impatiently. He wanted to go upstairs, find Ruby and apologize to her.

“Miss Massey…she has left the house.”

“Alone? Without a lantern?” he asked, his mind racing. Why would she do something so foolish? It had to be Giselle. She saw her and she thought that he would take her back. He swallowed thickly. Why had she thought so little of him?

“Aye, sir, she left without a cloak, or…”

“Damnation. Fetch me a lantern, and enlist some footmen to help me search for her. I don’t know what she thought she would do—this is sheer madness. This is being reckless.”

*****

With only the moonlight to guide her way, Ruby ran away from Penryn House. Her hopes had been dashed. Her dreams had been destroyed. She was nothing compared to the woman who had walked back into Finn’s life. Mrs. Brant looked like a Grecian Goddess. Her features were impeccable, and her flaxen hair was breathtakingly beautiful.

She had it all…she had everything that Ruby did not.

Ruby didn’t know where she was going. All she knew was that somehow, she had to escape Penryn House and the humiliation she now felt. She shouldn’t have imagined that someone like Finn could love her. She shouldn’t have imagined that it would be possible for her to have that kind of life.

She would never be a duchess. She would never be anything more than what she was right now. And she had to get away from it. She had to get away from it all. She realized she was being foolish. She knew she was being reckless, but she couldn’t stop herself.

All she wanted to do was escape.

She tripped and fell onto her hands and her knees. Something moved against her, and she screamed, only relaxing when she realized it was a hedgehog.

It was time for her to go home. Instead of foolishly walking out here into the darkness, she should have returned to her chambers and started packing. She should have been thinking clearly. That was the problem—she wasn’t thinking clearly. She was thinking with her broken heart, and it was leading her into dangerous territory.

She stood up, and sighed, her fancy frock was ruined. Tears streamed down her face.

“Oh, now come on my wee lamb, don’t cry,” the woman’s soft voice made her gasp. The woman was cast in moonlight, and held a lantern in her hand. “Come along, we should go back to the house now.”

“Who are you?” she whispered, her voice a mere rasp.

“I am Mrs. Chegwin. My husband sent me out here to find you. You will find no shoulder to cry on with Mrs. Teague. That woman is a real troll.”

She wiped her hand across her face to wipe away her tears. “I…I never imagined that you would be…”

“You never imagined that I would be so short?” Mrs. Chegwin laughed. “Aye. We make an odd couple. I am short, and he is rather gigantic, isn’t he? We are a bit like you and the Duke. Now, come along, come with me, and I shall take you to the kitchen, to have a nice soothing cup of hot chocolate that will lull you to sleep.”

Ruby nodded her head, and moved to step forward. Pain shot through her ankle. She must have twisted it in her fall.

“I think…” she said, grimacing. “I think I might have twisted my ankle.”

“Ah, well, then, lean on me,” Mrs. Chegwin said.

“Ruby!” Finn’s shouted to her in the darkness. Lanterns bobbed, as men walked toward them, and she heard barking. He had brought his dogs.

It was he.

It was the Duke. He was out searching for her. She shivered. Whether it was from cold, or the fear of what he would do or say when he found her, she didn’t know.

“I don’t want him to find me this way,” she whispered. She looked dreadful.

“And yet,” Mrs. Chegwin said, “I do not know if I am much help, not as I am now. You seem to be in a good deal of pain, Miss Massey. I think having the Duke carry you back would be the best course of action.”

“No…please don’t…”

“They will see my light. Do not fear him, Miss Massey. He is a good lad. He is a good man. He was a good child, and though he was led a little astray after he became a man…his heart is still good and true—and he loves you. He truly does. And you…I think you feel something for him. You have to stop running, Miss Massey. You have to start accepting that you have in a short time, built a life for yourself here.”

“He doesn’t love me. Not anymore. He cannot. He will want Mrs. Brant now.”

“Surely, you can’t think he will want that selfish creature? No. He will not want her. She has lost her glamour. She can no longer enchant him. You are the only woman who can possess his heart now. She is not the sort of woman the Duke wants. Not after he has seen what he could have in you. Even Giselle does not possess that sort of magic. Few rarely do, and those that do, sometimes do not know how to wield it.”

“I suddenly feel quite tired…and so very cold,” she said, her teeth chattering. She felt weakened, and she slumped down to her knees.

She fought to stay awake. She looked up at Mrs. Chegwin, and for one brief moment, she thought she saw a crown of stars on the woman’s head, as the years faded away, and she transformed back into a lovely young woman. Her hair was the colour of moonlight. She had ears with a pointed pixie tip, and eyes that sparkled like gemstones. “Sleep now, Miss Massey. You are safe. Sleep and dream of pixies dancing merrily under a full moon. Pray, dream of a pixie queen, and her giant consort.”

She closed her eyes, and drifted away into dreams filled with pixies, little girls, and a rakish Duke that thought she was his priceless jewel.

Finn cradled Ruby in his arms. She was cold. He held her close to his chest, seeking to share some of his body warmth with her. Mrs. Chegwin and Mr. Chegwin walked alongside him. “I think someone should ride for the doctor,” he said, fear stealing into his heart.

“And what do we do about Mrs. Brant?” Mr. Chegwin asked. “She doesn’t seem to want to leave, sir.”

“Watch her closely. Keep her to her chambers, and make sure she doesn’t disturb me, because if she does, I will not react kindly to her. She caused this. She put Ruby into a desperate mood, and made her feel as if she was unwanted at Penryn House.”

“I will make up some of my hot chocolate for her…for when she awakens,” Mrs. Chegwin said softly.

“I don’t know if even that will help, Mrs. Chegwin. I fear for her. She is so cold, and she looks so pale.”

“I shall run ahead and send someone for the doctor,” Mr. Chegwin said.

Finn walked into Penryn House, and made for the staircase. Taking her to her room, he gently laid her down upon her bed. The room was warm, thanks to the fire burning in the fireplace. Mrs. Chegwin stood with him. “You leave, and I shall get her out of her clothing with the assistance of a maid, and into a warm nightgown.”

He nodded his head, and left. Mr. Chegwin came to stand with him. He looked harried, and a little out of breath. “I sent a rider for the doctor.”

“She was warm to the touch,” Finn muttered. “I fear she has a fever.”

Mr. Chegwin looked at him worriedly. “Do not fret, sir. She is a survivor.”

“How do I know that?” he asked. “We do not know how hearty her constitution is.”

“My wife will know what to do.”

Finn thought of the wishing stones. If he had to…he would wish for her health to improve. He would do anything for Ruby.

If her health worsened—he would have to write to her family. He had no other choice. To not do so would make him into the kind of person he had always despised.

Her bedchamber door opened once again, and Mrs. Chegwin smiled warmly at him.

“She is decent now, Your Grace. You can come and sit with her if you would like.”

Of course, he wanted to sit by her bedside. He would see her through this trial, and he would remove Mrs. Brant from his life once and for all.

*****

Ruby’s sleep was fitful. Pixies danced around her, singing a song she couldn’t understand. In the distance, a man shrouded in black stood, as if he waited for her. She thought it was Finn…until, she broke away from the circle of pixies, and dashed toward him. The man lowered his hood, and revealed his face. It was ghastly. The sight made her cringe, and recoil in terror. His face looked as if he had been dead for months, he opened his mouth, and he laughed. Oh, God, that terrifying laugh. The laugh that made afraid for her life. She screamed, and sat upright in bed.

“What is it?” Finn was at her side. His eyes were wide.

“I…I had a frightful nightmare,” she confessed.

“You are safe now. You gave me quite a scare, Ruby. I thought…I thought I was going to lose you.”

“I thought…” she struggled for breath. “I thought I had already lost you, Finn.”

“You can never lose me,” he said, reaching for her hand, and bringing it to her lips. “You are still so cold,” he commented, rubbing her hand between his fingers. “I shall have a maid bring another quilt for your bed.”

She shook her head. “That isn’t necessary. I am fine. I have always had cold hands.”

“My mother used to say, cold hands, warm heart.”

She smiled at him. “Where…where are the children?” She tried to sit up, and he helped her and propped up some pillows behind her back.

“They are sleeping still—I think. Your scream might have woken them.”

“I am sorry if it did,” she admitted. “Where is Mrs. Brant? I…I suppose you will want to reconcile with her now.”

“Whatever gave you that notion? I am not reconciling with her. She means nothing to me. You are the woman I trust my heart to, Ruby. You, and only you. Giselle no longer has my affection, and I am not sure if she ever had it. She was a diversion. She means nothing to me, Ruby.”

“I believe you, Finn.”

“Thank God,” he said, relief etched across his features.

“I will marry you—if you will still have me,” she said softly.

“Still have you? There is nothing that I want more in the world. Now…why don’t we get married as soon as you strong enough?”

“I would like that.”

“Do you need to have a gown made….or…”

“No…I have something that will befit the occasion. Besides, it isn’t what I wear that counts is it?”

“No, it isn’t. The only thing that counts is that you show up at the church.” She laughed. He stood up. “I should take my leave now, so you can sleep.”

“Please, don’t go. Don’t leave me,” she implored.

He sat back down. “I have slept in worse situations before,” he remarked.

“I…I dreamt of that terrible man again. I dreamt of the Earl.”

He pushed hands through his hair. “I wish that man had gone straight to hell.”

“But he hasn’t, has he? He is still here. He walks through these halls like an unwanted guest. How…how can we continue to live here? I shan’t live here with you as your wife as long as he is here…ready to torment me. He came into my dreams, and I don’t want to see him there ever again, Finn. I want him gone from this house. And the sooner he has left, the better, I say.”

He looked at her. Both torment and love shimmered in his eyes. “Hearing you say my name like that…makes me quite heady,” he murmured. “I could…if you were stronger, I would kiss you, and make sure you couldn’t run away from me on our wedding day.”

Reaching for his hand, she took it and held it tightly. “Pray, don’t distract me, sir. I know…I know you are trying to take my mind off more serious matters, but I am serious, Finn. I shan’t live here if we cannot rid this house of his poisonous presence.”

“I do not know how to cleanse this house of his presence. I…I…” he sighed heavily. “It is all my fault. The only thing we can do is leave this place, and never return. I don’t know if I can do that. I should want to leave here…the girls should want to leave here because of what happened and yet—and yet, I cannot leave, and I do not think they want to either. Miranda would have told me if she and Cordelia wanted to leave this place. She is not one to keep things to herself,” he chuckled.

“What happened on that fateful night, Finn? You must tell me, so I can understand why that terrible man still roams these halls.”

“Eugene Penberthy, Earl of Sefton was a man of two faces. The one face was kind, and tried to ingratiate himself to everyone who knew him outside of Penryn House…the other face…the other man was a bloody brute. He beat my sister, and terrorized her daughters. On the night that I returned to Penryn House, he was in one of his drunken rages—he was a mean drunk. He and my sister were in a struggle, and from what I gather…he threw her against a wall, and her resulting injuries caused her to lose the child she carried—a boy…who would have been his heir, and my dear beloved sister—my kind sister who never wished anyone harm…lost her life as well. They couldn’t stop the bleeding, you see.”

“That is awful. I am so sorry, Finn. Did you…did you take revenge after seeing what Lord Sefton had done?”

“No. I was too late. Revenge had already been taken against him. I…I don’t know if you want to hear the rest of the story, Ruby. It doesn’t have a happy ending. It is a rather grim tale, and I am not entirely certain you are strong enough to hear it.”

“Tell me, Finn. Please. I can bear it. Trust me.”

“He…he turned his rage upon Miranda after that. And hit her so hard, her lip was bleeding when I found her and her eye was all puffy…she looked absolutely dreadful.”

“What about Lady Cordelia?”

“Cordelia…according to Miranda, Cordelia thought that he was going to kill Miranda, as he had never been so enraged before. She moved forward while Isolde cried out for him to stop, and together, she and Miranda struggled with him. He wanted to kill someone that night, Ruby, and it wasn’t himself. They are so small…so delicate, I don’t even know how they fought with their father. I think he would have killed them all… if…well, if…” Finn sighed.

Ruby felt terrible, she didn’t want him to continue, as she could see it was causing him immense grief, and yet, she wanted to know the whole story, no matter how horrible. She needed to know it in order to help Lady Cordelia.

He sighed, and continued, “None of the servants were intervening—he had dismissed all of the ones that my mother had hired, you see. Men like Sefton do that. They like to isolate their victims—they take away all that they hold dear, any sort of support they might have, but he couldn’t take me away, and once Isolde figured out a way to get a missive to me, it was all over for him. He knew I would take away his precious control—and control and power are two things he coveted greatly. I never should have stayed away. I decided to keep out of touch with them, and it was my fault. All of it was my fault—and I could have prevented it, had I not been such a bloody selfish bastard.

“I often wondered if that is what put Sefton into that killing rage that night. He knew I was coming, and it would be all over for him. He fancied himself the head of this house even though he wasn’t. He didn’t pay for a thing here, and yet, he took it upon himself to fire all of the staff that had been loyal to our family for years and replace them. When I came back, I rectified that matter immediately. I fired all that he had hired to be loyal to him and only him, and I rehired those I could. Our old housekeeper had passed away, and the only person I could find on short notice and who had enough nerve to fill the position was Mrs. Teague, as her husband was distantly related to us. I regret hiring her now, but while she is a bit cold and hard, she is at least loyal, and she will do what I tell her to.”

“What happened to Lord Sefton?” she asked, in a soft whisper, her face somber and her eyes filled with sympathy.

“Sefton was ape drunk, and in such a rage that Cordelia and Miranda continued to struggle with him. From what I can get out of Miranda, Isolde somehow found the strength to get to her feet, and she was the one that…she…assisted Lord Sefton to his death. My bastard brother-in-law was already not sure of his footing—he was so foxed, and well, I take it that he didn’t need much of a push, and he went tumbling down the stairs. Though injured, Isolde’s protective instincts propelled her into dragging herself to her feet, and keeping her children from harm. She intervened, and put that bastard out of their lives forever.

“By the time he reached the bottom—he was quite dead. I found him that way. His neck was broken and his eyes were open—the worst thing was that he had a smile on his face—a smile that made my gut twist. I sent for a doctor, and he did all he could for Isolde, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t save her or the child. She lingered long enough to tell me that she loved me, and begged me to give her my promise that I would always take care of Miranda and Cordelia.

“From that night onward, Cordelia has retreated inside of herself. She is so frightened of men, thanks to her father that she won’t come near me. We have made headway though, haven’t we? She asked me to carry her on my back the other day… And now…now you know the whole terrible tale, Ruby.”

“And people think you did it, don’t they?” she asked softly. 

“It was ruled an accident. But people talk—and they like to make up their own version of events that night—and they think I arrived home to find what he had done to my sister, and acted swiftly by cutting him out of our lives. I only wish that I had arrived sooner—if only I had arrived in time to save my sister, and to save Miranda and Cordelia, from having to fight with their father that way. I wish I could have saved them from having to see him give their mother the blow that sealed her fate, and from having to see Isolde kill their father. They have both been scarred, but Cordelia has suffered the most. I fear she will never heal from it, and I don’t know who to trust to help her with her inner turmoil. I don’t want Isolde’s name blackened. I don’t want them to remember her for that. She…she did it to protect her children. I only hope I have done for them what Isolde would have been able to do for them, had she lived. The trauma of that night, though, it stays with Cordelia, and while I worry about Miranda as well, Cordelia is such a sensitive soul.”

“I think you have helped her a lot in the last six months, Finn. You have shown her that not all men are cut from the same cloth. You have shown her that while monsters walk amongst us, angels walk where others fear to tread. You have given her hope back. I see it in her eyes…and while she might take a little more time to come out of her shell, I think she is healing.”

“I pray you are right. She has improved a good deal since you arrived. You were just what she needed, Ruby.”

They sat for a few moments in silence, and then, she heard two little someone’s walking into the room. “Cordelia had a bad dream,” Lady Miranda announced, she held Joan in her arms, and the kitten purred while she stroked her back, “And we cannot wake either one of our nannies. Nanny Bolitho snores in such a frightful manner. I tried to wake her, but she snorted, and then turned over and fell back asleep.”