When Hermione and Virgilia Chalcote suddenly find themselves to be heiresses, Hermione is able to look forward to coming out for the Season with her friend Julia Avery, whose younger sister Octavia is of an age with Virgilia. Little do the four girls know what adventures await them, whether in town for the Chalcote girls and Julia, or in the supposed safety of the country for Octavia The girls' respective brothers, Victor and Anthony Avery and Alexander Chalcote find themselves embroiled in the plans and problems of the girls, none quite so involved as the sardonic Victor Avery, who finds himself aiding and abetting Virgilia in a mad imposture, little dreaming that this will lead to the rescue of his own sister