A family in trade moving up in the world A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them And the sons and daughters caught in the middle Julia Fletcher is the unimportant daughter of the Fletcher family with neither beauty nor wit nor accomplishments but always in a scrape Somehow she never manages to get through the day without breaking or spilling or tearing something Shes quite the despair of her stepmother Shes looking forward to their grand new home because it will give her a vast estate to roam over without getting into too much trouble Or so she hopes James Plummer is the younger son of an impoverished baronet forced to sell the imposing family home to the upstart newcomers James doesnt mind that hes the local clergyman so hes snug in his rectory with a curate to do the dreary business of the parish and leave him free to wander about with a gun or a fishing rod Its all pretty boring though his family his neighbours his dull daily round nothing very exciting happens Maybe the Fletcher family will liven things up a bit And outspoken hoyden Julia Fletcher seems just the one to shake things up maybe a little too much for everyones peace of mind