Belinda Bidwell is a poor relation. Her parents are dead, her home is gone. She lives by her wits at the homes of distant connections, running errands, writing letters, tending children. Belinda arrives in London, the last outpost of her far-flung family, to serve as companion to the irascible Millicent Anstruther. Millicent is the eldest of a proud family famous for its discovery of ancient British artifacts. Belinda's duties include chaperoning beautiful debutante, Fleur Anstruther, and scholar, Edward Fortescue, as they catalogue the collection for exhibit. Belinda's dismay at such proximity to her former beau grows, as she suspects that the Anstruther Miscellany is not at all what it seems to be.
