The Scapegrace — Sylvia Thorpe

"A little nobody from the other side of the world with not a penny to her name. And you think you can contract a respectable marriage for her. Ridiculous!" -- Mrs. Courtenay threw the words at Tristram. A wicked glint came into his eyes. "Ridiculous is it," he said softly. "I'll lay any odds you like she finds it easier to get a husband than ... more »that sour-faced daughter of yours."

When Tristram, the young Lord Maristone, took penniless American Melinda Westcott under his protective wing, he had only a faint notion of the odds against her.

Tristram, rakish and headstrong, was not one to run from a challenge. But when he determined that Melinda should become a social success, he reckoned without the danger from her hidden past-nor did he know that Melinda had fallen in love with him.