Respectability or love? London's most celebrated actress, Miss Kitty La Bijou, has almost achieved her heart's desire. Mistress to handsome Lord Nash and the unacknowledged illegitimate daughter of Viscount Partington, she has fame, beauty and the man of her dreams. But the respectability she craves eludes her. When Kitty stumbles across Araminta, her nobly born half-sister, on the verge of giving birth barely seven months after marrying dangerous Viscount Debenham, Kitty realises respectability is no guarantee of character or happiness. However, helping Araminta has unwittingly embroiled Kitty in a scandalous deception involving a ruthless brothel madam, a priceless ruby necklace and the future heir to a dazzling fortune. And when Kitty finally receives an offer of marriage from unexpected quarters, that will seemingly solve all her problems, she must choose. Respectability or love?