Clara Blackburn is the orphan maid to Lady Elizabeth Morgan and is likely to remain so, until a chance meeting with the rich and highly eligible Charlie Hampton. Having thwarted Lady Elizabeth's plans to snare Charlie, Clara finds herself without a position, Charlie feels responsible and decides to launch Clara into society so that she might find a suitable husband, though it becomes increasingly clear that there is only one suitable husband. There is also the mystery of Clara's birth, she was never a lady, but she was never just a maid either. The Christmas Ball will be the talk of the ton for generations.