It's December of 1830 in Albany, NY, and Miss Clarissa Bainbridge is planning the perfect Christmas party. She has one last invitation to hand deliver before she can attend to all the last minute details the social event of the season requires.

Will Sir Gerald and Lady Helena attend? English nobility so rarely grace Albany with their presence during the holidays, and the Lanningtons only arrived yesterday. A last minute invitation, while not quite proper, will have to do.

But fate has other plans for Miss Bainbridge as she alights from her carriage to deliver the invitation...