The lovely, lonely child named Destiny, grows up a drudge in a poor parsonage, until aged fifteen, she discovers that she is the daughter of the Earl of Destermere, and the richest heiress in Queen Anne’s England!

Stephen Godwin, the Earl’s secretary, traces her to Bath and carries her off to Richmond where she is caught up in the social whirl.

But the Countess, her beautiful and unscrupulous stepmother, resents her coming. She plans to marry Destiny to her own brother, the depraved, sadistic Baron who is out to gain control of Destiny’s fortune.

As Destiny rises from kitchen drudge to social beauty, will her fate be love or misery?