The offspring of working class people in a very class conscious England and at fifteen the model of a young nymph, Katie finds work in one of the great houses. There her industry attracts Bernard Rosier, the master, an accomplished seducer who uses force with Katie when charm fails.
Deflowered but not defeated, Katie vows to challenge the Rosiers on their own terms. How she does this, how she forges a financial empire and founds her own dynasty, is the stuff of this story