I predict even those who are not fond of fairy-tales will find themselves enjoying this one. The opening chapter finds young Sterling Harlow and his faithful pet cat Nellie wondering about the big coach that has pulled up. What he sees is a crabbed nasty-tempered old man who hates cats. To his horror, Sterling is going to live with the old duke, and even the fact that the duke is going to adopt him and make him his heir is no compensation for the loss of his beloved mother and his dear pet Nellie. As Sterling goes off, his father counts the money the duke has given him.
Sterling is now the duke.
He has survived his upbringing with only one good friend, his cousin Diana, the duke's daughter by his dead wife. Sterling has spent time in the wars, and now is cutting a rakish swath through Society. Diana has done most of the paperwork for Sterling, and when he deigns to examine some of it, he reads a letter from a Miss Laura Fairleigh informing him his mother, Lady Eleanor is dead. Laura is one of the three orphaned children of the Vicar whom his mother took under her wing. Laura is not looking forward to the visit of the duke.