A Rose Among Thorns

Despite losing her mother at a young age, Sassy has grown up surrounded by love; although poor, she is happy. So she is devastated when her father marries wealthy widow Elizabeth Bonner. Social climber Elizabeth despairs of a stepdaughter who is more at ease with servants than those above stairs, and becomes deeply jealous when Sassy's beauty begins to outshine Elizabeth's own daughter. Sassy often escapes to the company of her childhood friends Thomas and Jack Mallabone, but their bond is threatened by her blind adoration for wayward Thomas, to the dismay of Jack, who has long worshipped Sassy in secret.