Better boredom in the country than marriage in the town! That was Clarissa's answer to her father's ultimatum and she packed herself off to the family estate without further ado.

She was resigned to bitter isolation and a resolute battle of wills. But before a week was out she had discovered a true friend in the lovely Emily Manville and a true challenge in the sudden appearance of Lord Lytton and Sir Sidney Montcrieff. As the two young ladies schemed at love, all London was awash with rumors. The topic--a beauty's sudden disappearance, scandalous doings in the Cotswolds, and the shocking "condition" of Miss Clarissa Claringdon.