Close to death, yet lacking an heir, the Countess of Hampden instructs a private detective to select her successor according to strict criteria. Synnove McKenna, an elegant businesswoman, is subsequently singled out from thousands, to be mistress, and seduced into accepting couture clothes and vintage motors that come with the Camelot setting. Struggling to maintain the worthy Victorian values by which the Countess lived, Synnove is targeted by opportunists as well as those with more legitimate claims. Blamed, blackmailed and betrayed - she faces both personal ruin and desecration of everything her benefactress held dear unless she can manage Sanderling successfully.