When a difficult client causes shop girl Harriet Peabody to lose her job, wealthy businessman Oliver Addleshaw offers her enough money to start her own shop in exchange for posing as his fianc�e.

Hoping their friendship becomes something more, Harrison Sinclair finds himself embarking on outlandish escapades with Gertrude Cadwalader, a paid companion for the light fingered Mrs. Davenport.

As part of a bargain with her grandmother, Poppy Garrison accepts an unusual proposition to participate in the New York social season. Forced to travel to America to help his cousin find an heiress to wed, bachelor Reginald Blackburn is asked to give Poppy etiquette lessons, and he swiftly discovers he may be in for much more than he bargained for.