“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.”
“I should sack both of them,” Finn muttered.
“Oh, no, you shouldn’t. They might sleep a little too deeply, but they are kind souls,” Ruby said.
“Yes, indeed, Uncle. Cordelia and I are fond of them, even though they do sleep like the dead. Why…why are you in Miss Massey’s room, Uncle?” Miranda asked, honestly perplexed.
“She wanted a bedtime story,” he jested. Ruby swatted at him, and he started laughing. “I am sorry, I couldn’t resist.” He gave her a wide smile that made her stomach dip.
He was a rascal. He would always be a rascal. She was deeply grateful that now…he was her rascal.
*****
“I think Miss Massey should marry me, don’t you, girls?” Finn asked softly. He watched Cordelia walk a bit over toward him. It did his heart good to see her warming up to him.
“Oh, I think that is a splendid idea, Uncle Phineas. Oh, Miss, do say, yes,” Miranda said brightly.
Ruby laughed. “I already have,” she said softly.
Cordelia had taken it upon herself to climb up onto Ruby’s bed, and she wore a grin that told him that her nightmare had faded away in her mind. It did his heart good to see her recovering so nicely.
“Does that mean,” they were all startled to hear Cordelia speak. “Does that mean that you will be ours forever and always, Miss Massey? Does that mean we will be a family?”
Finn’s stomach dipped. She sounded like a miniature Isolde.
“Aye, it does,” Ruby said.
“There is nothing I want more, Cordelia,” Finn said softly.
He smiled at them. Seeing what Cordelia had done, Miranda followed, and before he knew it, they were both under the covers with Ruby, including Joan who had climbed under the sheets and moved down to settle around Cordelia’s feet. She decided that was too snug, because a few seconds later, she came from under the covers and snuggled between Cordelia and Ruby.
“Now, then, girls? How about another bedtime story?” Finn asked.
“Oh, do tell us how the story of Queen Joan and her giant beau ended,” Miranda said, while Cordelia enthusiastically nodded her head.
“All right,” he said. “Well, the day of their wedding approached. Isolde and I were lucky enough to have come upon the planning for it in the woods. Queen Joan was quite at her wits end. I had never seen her so distraught. She had tears in her eyes. She told us that Oswald had been taken by his family who had returned from the old lands, and that they were intent upon marrying Oswald off to a princess from their world. Oswald had resisted but, since there were six of them, he could do little to fight them. He was told that once the Giant Princess kissed him, he would return to his old gigantic self. Queen Joan had fallen in love with him during that summer, and she begged us to help her. She said the giants were in a part of the woods forbidden to the pixies. She said, that if giants knew that humans were coming…they would magically turn themselves so they looked like us. She begged us to go and see if we could get Oswald away from his family.
“Queen Joan told us that giants feared pepper, as it would make them feel quite weak. Indeed, just being near the stuff made them feel quite sick. So we ran back to the house, and went to the kitchens and begged for some of the stuff. Armed with pepper, we returned to the woods, and set off on our quest.”
“Oh, did you rescue him, Uncle?” Miranda asked softly.
“Well, you know your mother, she had such a big heart that she believed it was our duty. We went off with heroic thoughts in mind, and ready to slay as many giants as we had to, by throwing pepper at them. It didn’t take us long to find them. They were all sitting in a circle around a fire, and preparing themselves to open the portal back to their old lands. Oswald was obviously there under duress, as they had him sitting between two of his brothers. Whenever he tried to get up, they made him sit back down. They told him he was a bad giant that he had allowed mortals to see him in his native form, and that the only way he could avoid being punished by their king and queen was to marry their princess…who apparently was so ugly and so smelly that they couldn’t find a husband for her. Those who saw her, would recoil in terror, and run from her. They said she had a nose like a big potato, and had hairy warts all over her face. They said it would be less disagreeable, if she would take a bathe at least once every two years, but she hadn’t taken a bathe in over ten years, she didn’t see any point, as she had been proclaimed the ugliest giant in the Realm.”
“Oh, that is so sad,” Miranda said. “That poor princess.”
He smiled, and then, continued, “And so we quietly approached them, but I stepped on a twig and they heard it. They turned to look at us, and in a flash of light, they shrank in size so they were the size of adult males. They looked at us, and one of them said, why don’t we cook them, and then another said they couldn’t do that, it was forbidden, but before any of them could take action against us, we threw pepper in the air, and they all started to cough and sneeze, and we ran forward and grabbed Oswald and ran with him.”
“How did you escape from them?” Ruby asked. She was just as enthralled as his nieces were.
“We thought they would catch us for certain, as the pepper didn’t seem to be weakening them the way it should have been. Then, a portal opened, and a man stepped through. He was the largest giant I had ever seen, and he wore a huge crown on his head, made with large red and purple gemstones. He said that he would take another of Oswald’s brothers to marry his daughter, and that Oswald was banished to Earth, and that he had forbidden any of his other giant subjects to come to Earth, as they were afraid of Man hunting them. The Giant King took Oswald’s family back through the portal, and that was the last we ever saw of them.”
Finn looked over at Cordelia. She looked about ready to nod off. They laid cuddled
on either side of Ruby. The heartwarming scene made him want to do whatever he had to do to keep Ruby.
Mrs. Brant had to go.
“And…and Oswald married Queen Joan and lived happily ever after, didn’t he?” Miranda asked sleepily.
“That he did. Isolde was asked to be one of Queen Joan’s bridesmaids, and I…well, I was asked to be the ring bearer. They had a beautiful wedding filled with love, dancing, and laughter, and I will carry that day in my heart until the day I die.”
“Oh, Uncle that was lovely. I do so like it when true love wins,” Miranda said sleepily. Cordelia’s even breathing filled the room. She had fallen asleep. Miranda smiled, and snuggled down under the bedclothes, and fell back asleep. Morning would come sooner than any of them wanted it to.
Ruby looked at him sleepily. “Goodnight, sir,” she murmured.
“Goodnight, Ruby,” he said, peace in his heart. He finally had everything that he had ever wanted.
He left Ruby’s bedchamber, and went back to his bedchamber, where he had a restless sleep. He hadn’t tossed and turned so much in his entire life. The only thing he could focus on was making Ruby his wife, and banishing the bitch that had almost ruined everything for him.
The sooner he saw the last of Mrs. Brant—the better.
*****
It was morning, and Finn had left Ruby’s side to go and take care of Mrs. Brant. He would remove her from his house once and for all. Rapping on her door, he impatiently waited. She wasn’t going to answer the door, instead, he heard her say in her imperious manner, “Come.” He walked stiffly into her room, and looked at her. She looked dreadful. Was this how she had always looked in the morning? He was quite taken aback by how she appeared. She looked so bitter, and the calculating gleam in her eyes made his hackles rise. What had he been thinking to give that a good tupping? He had to have been mad—or blind—or both.
“You must leave this place today, Mrs. Brant,” Finn said, attempting to control his anger.
“Oh, Finn, darling, I do not feel like leaving today. I am ever so tired from traveling. It is not an easy ride from London to here. You should know that better than anyone,” she said, in her simpering sweet way, making his gut twist.
“I don’t care about any of that. You have to go. And that is that. Pray, do not call me Finn. We no longer share that sort of a relationship. You can call me, Your Grace, or Sir.”
“I could…but then, again, darling…I don’t want to.” She batted her eyelashes at him. He snorted.
“You can look coyly at me all you want, Mrs. Brand. I am not going to be pulled back into your seductive web. I have moved on. I am over you.”
She sat in front of him, still in bed. “I don’t think I even want to leave this bed. It is so warm and soft, and this bedchamber while it could be nicer is almost as big as the one I have in London. Why don’t you come and join me?” she asked, throwing back the bedclothes, and in doing so, she showed him that she was naked.
He looked away. “Try all you want, Mrs. Brant. You will not affect me.”
She pouted. “Oh, come on, Finn, darling. Don’t be so angry. You look rather grim. Come and have a bit of fun with me. London wasn’t any fun without you. No one else knows how to party like you do. They are all such tightly wound it is shameful. Why, they are so cheap, they squeak.”
“No one else is probably gullible enough to want to spend the money on you. Most likely, they have all grown wise—and I…I was a bloody dunderhead. I was so stupid. I never should have fallen victim to my lust the way I did with you. You were a passing fancy, nothing more.”
“So, you think you can really cast me aside? Is that it?” she asked coldly, anger skipping through her eyes.
“That is what I have been saying since you got here. Why do you bloody well think I left you behind in London? You are not a part of my life anymore, Mrs. Brant. You cannot be a part of any respectable gentleman’s life, and certainly not a part of mine. I am a duke.”
“You proposed to me, Finn. You…you wanted me as your duchess,” she said. Giselle was so well trained, her eyes had started to fill up with unshed tears. She was a bloody talented thespian. She should be on the stage, and maybe, if she couldn’t find another man to keep her that was where she could go.
“I did that in the heat of the moment, Mrs. Brant,” he said tiredly. “You were…you were pleasuring me, and I was grateful. Mindlessly, it slipped out of mouth. That is all. It was not a serious proposal whatsoever.”
“So…so…all I was to you was a kept whore?” she asked, her eyes wide with indignation, as her mouth slanted into a sneer.
“You did your job quite well,” he confessed, walking to her door.
“If you don’t give me what I want, Finn…if you don’t give me at least twenty thousand pounds…I shall tell your little innocent jewel, exactly what services you paid me to do for you. I will tell it all to her. She shall be innocent no longer, and she will know you for the awful wretch you are. You, sir, are a deviant!”
“Get out of my house, Mrs. Brant. Get out now! You can take your things and go. I will tell my grooms to make ready your carriage. I do not want to see you ever again. Do I make myself quite clear?” he demanded angrily.
“She will never be your bride. That little chit is hardly suitable enough for you. She probably comes from a family of ill-repute. I warrant she is nothing like me. She wouldn’t know how to act in the circles you frequent. She would stumble over her words, and she wouldn’t know what to say to a duchess, let alone conduct herself as one, if it hit her in the face. No, she is not good enough for you. She will never have you. I shall make certain of that. If I can’t have you, Finn, no one can. I will make you the bloody talk of the ton, you mark my words.
“You murdered your own brother-in-law. I saw how enraged you were when you read that missive from your sweet saintly Isolde. You forgot to burn it before you left. I read every single sordid detail in it. I thought you were quite heroic to run to your poor sister’s aid and dispense of her blackguard of a husband. I thought you were my hero, but now…now I rather think that the proper authorities should know that you murdered Lord Sefton. Don’t you?
“I daresay that justice should be served, and once you are made to pay for what you have done, your dear little nieces shall be cast out into the street with no one to protect them. They shall be faced with a lot in life that is worse than mine, and the little bitches…the little well-bred bitches deserve it,” she said cruelly. “They won’t be able to be a mistress—they shall be relegated to becoming a common bit of muslin. They won’t be ladies anymore—they will be beneath every respectable gentleman’s touch. Their reputation will be utterly ruined, and I shall sit by and clap and rejoice at it all. And when they need a friend in this harsh world, I shall shut the door in their stupid little faces.”
Rage boiled through him. He had to leave her room before he did the unthinkable and put his hands on her. “You will leave directly after you have had your breakfast. If you don’t go willingly, I shall have you escorted out, do you understand?”
“To hell you will. I am here to stay, Finn, my boy, or else your nieces will be looking at a life of hell, and I shall be the one to give it to them.”
“You seem to have forgotten which one of us is the master of this house,” he said coldly.
“Oh, I know exactly which one of us is in control, sweetie,” she said serenely.
Chapter Sixteen
Finn left Giselle’s bedchamber, and slammed the door behind him. Contempt rolled within him. She was a horrid woman. What a bloody harridan. Never before had he seen such soulless eyes. Giselle would do whatever she had to keep her claws dug into him, even if it meant throwing threats around.
She couldn’t touch him—and she couldn’t touch his nieces, so why be so damn worried?
He had to rid the house of Giselle’s poisonous presence, before she caused any further damage. He just hoped he could do so before she found Ruby and told her everything.
Sighing, he made his way to Ruby’s bedchamber. Knocking on her door, he stood and waited until she answered it. She was already dressed for the day, in a lovely emerald green frock, and looked much better than she did before, though he noticed her walking with a slight limp, as she stepped away from the door.
“Good morning,” he said softly. “Where are the girls?”
She smiled. “They have gone back to the nursery to dress, play, and have their own breakfast.”
He smiled. “Thank you for letting them stay with you last night. You will never know how much that meant to me.”
She smiled. “It was no trouble at all. I have come to love them dearly.”
“I…I thought you might like to take breakfast with me in the Morning Room.”
She looked conflicted. “My breakfast was just brought up to me.”
“Leave it. Mrs. Chegwin won’t mind.”
“I…fine, Finn,” she relented at last. He had to keep her within his sights today. He couldn’t let Giselle tell her what she wanted to tell her. What if she thought ill of him? She knew he had kept a mistress, but with her innocence, she probably wouldn’t know exactly what sort of a role a mistress played.
“Come along,” he said, offering her his arm. “You needn’t look so worried, my love. I shan’t ravish you in the Morning Room.”
“Do you promise?” she asked softly, amusement glittering in her eyes.
“I do,” he said.
“Ah, such a pity,” she said, smiling.
As they walked down the steps, they heard a hell of a commotion coming from the Entrance Hall.
“My lord, you simply cannot go in unannounced. It is not done,” one of his footmen protested.
His Bewitching Jewel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 7) Page 16