Eldest daughter, Isabella - having failed in her bid to reclaim her family home - is blissfully wed. The task now falls to the next daughter, Jessica. Mannerling, the family estate gambled away by Sir Beverley, remains the passion of his daughters. How fortunate then that the new owner has a marriageable son. In truth, Harry is a brutal letch, a drunkard and a wastrel. Jessica is barely aware of the attentions of handsome, charming Professor Robert Sommerville, whose affection for Jessica is equalled only by the fear that her obsession to secure Mannerling will lead to disaster.