Roberta, Marquise de Grez and Bye, is heading to America with her ill younger brother and his caretaker. Her father had just died from wounds received in the trenches of France. Roberta"s mother, a French noblewoman, had died long before that and so there is no one to take care of them. Her father, on his deathbed, instructed Roberta to go to America, the land of his home. There, she should find her Uncle Robert, a man of decent wealth. They are, however, lacking in funds. As they approach land again, they must stretch the small amount of money they have left to reach Uncle Robert. And when they reach him, will he be as benevolent as her father hopes he is? Or will Roberta need to find a new way of obtaining an income to keep herself and her brother from starving? Maria Thompson Daviess was an American artist and author. She wrote thirteen novels, one of which was Miss Selma Lue, a novel that typifies her optimistic style. She also participated in efforts to bring women"s suffrage to Tennessee.