At eighteen Petrina, an orphan heiress, runs away from school, and soon finds herself driving to London behind the most magnificent horses she has ever seen Unfortunately, the Corinthian holding the reins turns out to be none other than the Earl of Staverton, her detested guardian Petrina proves a sensation from the first moment she enters a ballroom, and her unusual and unexpected escapades disrupt the well-ordered life of her guardian as she seeks to defy or challenge him