Lacking a son and heir, Mr Henry Paget bequeaths his elder daughter, Georgina, his horse-breeding stables with instructions to take care of her young sister, Felicity, and make sure she makes a good marriage. The stables are some of the best in the country; Henry Paget was renowned for his knowledge of horses, a knowledge he passed on to his daughter. The problem Georgie soon encounters is that men are reluctant to do business with a woman and she is finding it difficult to make the business pay, let alone have time and money to give her sister the come-out she deserves. The arrival of her aunt back from abroad takes the problem of the come-out out of her hands but Georgie is still left trying to convince the equestrian world that she knows what she is doing. When Major Richard Baverstock returns from Waterloo seeking a horse, her life becomes even more complicated. Her aunt is determined to marry Felicity off to Richard and, as her sister's happiness is more important than her own, Georgie is prepared to promote the match, even when she realises she loves Richard herself. Her life becomes even more complicated when the odious Lord Barbour sets his cap at her, wanting to combine his failing stables with hers and is prepared to employ any means, however dastardly, to have his way. There seems no way out of her dilemma...