He called her disparagingly a 'flirt and a rattle'. She was a wealthy widow looking for adventure. He was a young Jew, twelve years her junior but willing to play. Neither of them knew then that one day he would say, I owe this lady all'. Queen Victoria called the new Mrs Disraeli 'vulgar' but created her a Viscountess. Their love story threads its way through Victorian society -- dazzling, powerful and exciting -- and ends amongst the beech trees of Buckinghamshire. We meet the great people of that age: see them through the sharp, amused eyes of an eccentric, one time little milliner whose love created a great prime minister and a great statesman.