H. Linn Murphy

Viscount Sir Edward Marchmont's new wife, Bernadette, is spending his money like water. Unbeknownst to her, he takes the family gem, a huge ruby called the Heart of Fire, to pay his gambling debts. But on the way to his creditor, Edward loses the jewel. In a fit of despair, he throws himself from Blackfriars Bridge, plunging his family into poverty. With a heart harder than any ruby, Bernadette abandons her stepchildren to a life on the streets of...