Lord of Scoundrels is a Regency romance novel by American author Loretta Chase. Published in 1995 by Avon Books, it is the third installment of her Débauchés series. Set in 1828, the story follows the Marquess of Dain, an aristocrat known as "Lord Beelzebub" and the "Lord of Scoundrels" for his unscrupulous, immoral behavior. The son of an English father and Italian mother, Dain is hardened due to a difficult childhood and meets his match in Jessica Trent, a 27-year-old bluestocking more than capable of trading wits with him.
Chase had a love for Italian culture, and decided that this background would provide ample motivation for Dain, being the product of his parents' inability to understand each other's cultures. As with many of her stories, Chase made her heroine a strong female, deciding to model Jessica after the type of women who lived a few generations previously and who had "a more practical, frank attitude toward sex". Lord of Scoundrels is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, with the author stating that like the Beast, Dain is an outcast and misfit among his society.
Lord of Scoundrels was positively received upon its release, and in 1996 it earned the RITA Award for "Best Short Historical", a prize given annually by the Romance Writers of America. Also during that year, Lord of Scoundrels won the Romantic Times "Regency Historical Romance" award. Literary critics and romance readers have since described it as one of the best historical romances ever written, praising the novel for its wit and well-developed characters.
Plot summary
Background
In the story's prologue, Sebastian Ballister is born in Devon to the 2nd Marquess of Dain and his Italian wife, Lucia Usignuolo. The Marquess is disgusted with the child, describing him as the "Devil's spawn" and a "wizened olive thing with large black eyes, ill-proportioned limbs, and a grossly oversize nose". Eight years later, the tempestuous Lucia abandons her husband for her lover. Unloved by his father and told that his mother is an "evil, godless creature", Sebastian is sent off to Eton where he is teased by his classmates over his appearance. The boy grows up learning to hide his feelings; given no inheritance by his father, Sebastian acquires clever ways to make his fortune and uses money to unscrupulously get his way.
Plot
The story begins in 1828, Paris. Sebastian, now the intelligent but immoral 3rd Marquess of Dain, meets his match in Miss Jessica Trent, who has arrived in the city to rescue her unintelligent, nearly penniless brother Bertie from Dain's bad influence. Dain and Jessica are instantly attracted to the other, though each seeks to hide their feelings. Dain has developed a hard, sarcastic personality; he is hostile to noblewomen, as he believes they care only for money. Jessica, a 27-year-old beautiful, strong-willed bluestocking, has refused dozens of marriage proposals over the years and wishes to maintain her independence.
The two exchange wits; Jessica requests that Dain send her brother back to England in exchange for a valuable religious icon she will sell him, while Dain wants the icon or else he will destroy her reputation and ruin her brother. They reach an impasse, and while her reputation remains intact, Dain spends the week personally overseeing Bertie's disintegration from excessive drinking and gambling. Jessica angrily confronts him and the two unexpectedly kiss. Later, at a party they almost consummate their relationship before being discovered by other party-goers. Dain coldly departs, assuming Jessica invited the others to force him to honorably marry her, leaving her angry that he would leave her reputation in tatters so casually.
Jessica sues him for the loss of her reputation. To her surprise, Dain converts this proposition into a marriage proposal, and they are wedded in London several weeks later. En route to his estate in Devon, Dain assumes she is repulsed by his "gross blackamoor's body", when the opposite is true. Filled with self-loathing over his appearance and personality, Dain initially avoids consummating their relationship despite Jessica's efforts to seduce him. They eventually do, and Dain apologizes for what he realizes has been his difficult behavior.