Christabel Spencer in the turn-of-the-century New York glows with all the glamor and warmth of the shimmering gaslights that illumined the countless balls, the galas at Delmonico's and the lavish parties crowding her nine-teen-year-old life. But her father, of one of America's richest and most ruthless 'new men,' wants his daughter to acquire an Old World pedigree - must buy herself a title. So Christabel is packed off to a London debut before the Prince and Princess of Wales and one of the most dazzling seasons in the history of London society. At the end of her season she carries off a prize - the dashing young Earl of Monkshood. But her reign as the Countess Monkshood, mistress of a magnificent stately home in Wiltshire, is a fragile one. Alone in an alien land of an ancient family, she is befriended by a young artist and writer who came to Monkshood to repair its world-famous frescoes. She must take her destiny into her own hands.
Christabel Spencer in the turn-of-the-century New York glows with all the glamor and warmth of the shimmering gaslights that illumined the countless balls, the galas at Delmonico's and the lavish parties crowding her nine-teen-year-old life. But her father, of one of America's richest and most ruthless 'new men,' wants his daughter to acquire an Old World pedigree - must buy herself a title. So Christabel is packed off to a London debut before the Prince and Princess of Wales and one of the most dazzling seasons in the history of London society. At the end of her season she carries off a prize - the dashing young Earl of Monkshood. But her reign as the Countess Monkshood, mistress of a magnificent stately home in Wiltshire, is a fragile one. Alone in an alien land of an ancient family, she is befriended by a young artist and writer who came to Monkshood to repair its world-famous frescoes. She must take her destiny into her own hands.