The Unsuitable Miss Martingale

the long version

Possessed of an inquisitive and adventurous spirit, Lili Martingale has proved herself unsuitable for the daily grind of life on a farm. Fortunately, her family believes she'll thrive in London, where she can enter society and marry respectably. However, Lili's intolerance of the conceit of the ton is too evident to be ignored, and her outspoken nature seems to make her unsuitable among the gentry as well. Viscount Halpern is being groomed as the seventh Marquis of Braybourne, but he has yet to take a wife from the bevy of beautiful girls he encounters every season. Upon meeting Lili, he is taken aback by her brash, no-nonsense demeanor -- and finds it quite appealing. Halpern's parents, however, feel that Lili is too far beneath his station for consideration as a future wife. But true love respects no hierarchy.