A Simple Choice? To ensure the succession of the Helford family line, it's imperative that David Melville, Viscount Helford should marry—and soon! He's determined to choose a wife of nobility and decorum as a matter of convenience—until his resolve is shaken to the core by the independent and fiery Miss Marsden. Sophie's plain beauty, forthrightness and virtually penniless state are nothing Viscount Helford desires in a wife. But she stirs a passion in him he cannot resist. The solution seems easy, but to take her as his mistress would tarnish her good name—something he knows she can't afford to lose. But can he afford to lose her?