Louisa Drayton has hit upon the perfect plan to save her brother's only child from being given to a wealthy and lecherous Viscount to pay her Mama's debts. She will masquerade as her elderly aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Roth. Plagued by fortune hunters and a whining Marquess, Louisa is young, wealthy, and unmarried. A terrible burden that she fears will hamper Beth's efforts. With her father lost during the war, Beth has no one to champion her but Louisa.

Louisa launches Beth into society with the help of her aunt's friends in the ton. But there are two wild cards that she does not count upon. Lord Devon Stanton, who steals her heart and a wily thief after a treasure he believes she possesses.