Miss Ruby Massey only has one mission on her mind—to avoid becoming the wife of the lecherous man her mother wants her to marry. Deciding to run away, she takes the position of governess to a wealthy gentleman’s two young nieces. Traveling for days, she finally arrives in the wild county of Cornwall, exhausted, and not entirely ready for what awaits her. Phineas Charles Trevelyan Trelawney Godolphin-Harrington, 3rd Duke of Camblesforth, is a recently reformed rake. Taking his responsibilities as the guardian of his nieces seriously, he has forsaken his mistress and his wild times in London, and though his family seat is in Yorkshire, he has made his home in Cornwall, the ancestral lands of his mother’s family. When he first catches sight of Ruby, she steals his heart, and he realizes he must claim this most bewitching jewel, but Ruby doesn’t want to be claimed. Mysterious forces threaten their burgeoning love, as the ancient Cornish festival of Allantide approaches.