Ruined and Ridden Down

One coach ride home was all it took. By morning, Juliet Ferrers was ruined, and the man who did it had vanished. She went to Devon to wait out the scandal. Within a fortnight, there were flowers on the gate — and the gate had been oiled. Within a month, a gentleman had rented the cottage past the wood. Charles Wray did not ruin Juliet by accident. He ruined her so thoroughly that no one else would ever want her, and then he came to live at the edge of her land, patient as weather. He did not count on her finding the lease. He did not count on the horse-whip. He did not count on a woman who would let him stay, on her land, on her terms, for the rest of their lives.