Francine is a heroine you will never forget.

At the age of just 20, Francine has been working for 10 years. From the meanest streets that Victorian London possessed, she traveled Europe, learning how to survive and even prosper.

Now back in London, in the new Edwardian era, she runs an agency saving young ladies from false suitors. With the help of her friends - ex-governess Miss Philpott, her footman fiancé Gilbert, and the feisty, tiny ex-kitchen maid Tilly - Francine changes all the lives she touches.

In an age where all power and money exists in the hands of men, Francine has refused to accept this for herself and her friends and leads the path to a more independent life. It is, she says, mainly a change in thinking.

One man, government minister Sir Hugo Portas, comes to Francine's office in a fury. She deals with him with her customary aplomb, but might she be brought to accept his help when an old enemy threatens her business and even her life?

Sir Hugo, for his part, is plummeted into a household where the maid is as important as the mistress. Music Hall stars rub shoulders with "little people", and he is treated with more contempt than respect. It is not what he is used to. But there is something so fascinating about Francine Lestrange...