Lady Georgiana Longborough has rejected a full-blooded life with her artist lover Augustus Hackett and instead has married the Scottish Lord Stranragh - who likes to address Georgiana was if she were a board meeting. Meanwhile down in Wiltshire, her fecund friend Jennifer's marriage to the Marquis of Pemberton seems in much better shape - except that Jennifer can never quite tell what 'Pember' is up to. A drink or two with the butler is one thing - but why is Bloss given a bigger car than Nanny? Fulton and Elliott, Jennifer's gay neighbours, are happily ensconced with the recently widowed ex-Bluebell girl Lady Tizzy, both of them blissfully content to play at fatherhood - always providing they know the parentage of Lady Tizzy's children. For pedigree is what it is all about, especially in the country set. But is the emotionally insecure Georgiana too thoroughbred to survive an elopement with Gus when she finds him back in her life? Has Jennifer the 'class' to rise above the village gossip? One thing is abundantly certain - in this world of social snakes and ladders, most of the protagonists will get what they richly deserve. 'Stylish....Charlotte Bingham distils high-class foibles into a classic lark.' COMPANY