His Bewitching Jewel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 7) by Marly Mathews

influential landowners, as they owned a good deal of Yorkshire. Many in the ton derided his family for moving with the times, thinking that it was beneath them to go into industry, but his father hadn’t given a tinker’s fart for what others thought, and neither did Finn. His father’s forward thinking ensured their legacy. While his wealth continued to flourish, other men in the ton set to inherit their father’s title and lands were not as lucky. 
    No matter what other worries Finn had, he never had to worry about money. Some of his mates were poor buggers who were on the hunt for an heiress in order for them to save their estates. He had no such concern. He did not have to marry out of duty, or obligation. He could marry for love. He wagered that he had already lost his heart to Ruby. She beguiled him in a way that no other woman ever had.
    Someday, he might attempt to spend part of the year in Yorkshire, as it was a beautiful county, like Cornwall, it had been dubbed God’s Own County, and he wondered how Ruby would view Yorkshire. She had been willing to come here to Cornwall, so he hoped she would not be horrified by the thought of living in Yorkshire—should he ever want to return there.
    He would stay away from London for a few years, to give those who had known about Mrs. Brant, the time to forget about her. Hopefully, she would find another young lord—or old lord to latch onto, and she would take up to warming his bed instead.
    He knew very little about Ruby’s past, but he suspected it was a little cleaner than his. Surely, she would have no scandal to speak of. How could a woman with angel eyes ever have been touched by scandal? No…she was most certainly an honourable and innocent woman free of any stain upon her reputation. Why, she probably hadn’t even had any suitors.
    She had probably lived the life of a nun, cloistered away from society, tending to her invalided father. He could imagine her dutifully sitting by his bedside, easing him through his trials, until he left this world for the next, leaving her utterly alone in a cruel and unforgiving world.
    He knew she had to hail from a good family, and he knew she had good breeding. What he didn’t know was what sort of circumstances had put her into having to work for him as a governess. He wanted to know what dreadful event in her life had caused her to come down in the world. Had her father died, with his estate entailed, and had the family who had inherited, booted her out of what rightfully should have been hers?
    Had she been cast out into the cold cruel world, forced to make her way in life without a tender word or kind shoulder to cry on?
    Protectiveness welled up inside of him, and he resolved that now…now, he would shield her from the horrors of the world. She had found safe haven with him, and she would never have to worry again. From this moment on, she wouldn’t have to fear a blessed thing in life.
    He would be her knight in shining armour.
    He sighed, and finished dressing for dinner, and then, dismissed his valet. He would go down once again to their empty 16 th Century Dining Room. He would eat at the large table, alone. He would have no one with which to have a lively discussion. No one here could possibly meet his intellect. No one here save for Ruby, and his nieces were of the class to sit with him at dinner. His nieces were too young, and Ruby was most likely, too tired.
    He wanted to see her face when she discovered the rest of the house. She had seen greatly pleased with what little she had seen, before Mrs. Teague had whisked her away to her bedchamber. Mrs. Teague was an annoying woman at the best of times, and he knew that she and his butler, Mr. Chegwin, did not always see eye to eye. Where Mr. Chegwin was a kindly older gentleman, Mrs. Teague was a hard and stern woman.
    Both were set in the ways, and both had different ways upon which they wanted to run the staff and the house. Despite all of that, Mr. Chegwin had a