Penelope Ashford, Portia Cynster's younger sister, has grown up with every advantage --wealth, position, and beauty. Yet Penelope is anything but a typical ton miss --forceful, willful and blunt to a fault, she has for years devoted her considerable energy and intelligence to directing an institution caring for the forgotten orphans of London's streets. But now her charges are mysteriously disappearing. Desperate, Penelope turns to the one man she knows who might help her--Barnaby Adair.