The father of the demure but beautiful Iola Herne, an imperious Army General not given to romance or sentiment, is overjoyed to receive a request for her hand in marriage from the ageing Lord Stoneham, the Lord Lieutenant of the County and the scion of local Society.
But Iola is appalled by the prospect of marrying an old man whom she does not and never could love.
To escape her Fate she runs away to seek the advice of her beloved Nanny – only to find that that Nanny herself is on the brink of a new adventure with an exciting new job caring for a young heiress on a luxury yacht in the glamorous South of France.
Tragically, though, Nanny dies in the night and, on an impulse, Iola takes her job and travels to Monte Carlo in her place.
Instantly she is captivated by her charge, the precocious five year old Lucy – but dislikes her handsome but haughty father, the wealthy Sir Wolfe Renton, who is dismissive of Iola's inspiring ideas of teaching his daughter and abrasive in his tone.
But, when Lucy is kidnapped by French vagabonds, it is Iola who holds the key to her rescue and, as he then suddenly realises, to his heart!

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.
Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.
She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.
Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.
Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.
Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.