William, the Viscount Summerfield, returning home from his worldly adventures, throws a month-long coming-out party for his sister at his Hertfordshire estate.

The shopkeeper presses Phoebe Fairchild, an aristocratic woman, to ask French seamstress Madame Dupree to take on the commission. But Phoebe is secretly Madame Dupree, and because of her position in society must hide her identity. The shopkeeper has long suspected Phoebe is actually Madame Dupree and blackmails Phoebe into fulfilling the obligation of gowns to Summerfield. Will is attracted to Phoebe's spirited, headstrong demeanour and Phoebe finds Will attractive and worldly. They begin to fall in love, but he pursues her only as a lover because he believes their stations in life prevent them from marrying. Then, at a grand ball Phoebe's deception is revealed in a very public, humiliating manner that forces her to flee back to London. Will she and Will find a way to reunite and fall in love all over again?