A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (A Lady's Guide, #1)

Set in Regency-era England in 1818, the story follows Kitty Talbot, the eldest of five sisters, as she schemes to marry a wealthy man and save her family from financial ruin.

At Netley Cottage in Dorsetshire, Kitty's fiancé, Mr. Charles Linfield, abruptly ends their two-year engagement, having already proposed to another woman whose connections will better serve his political ambitions. Both of Kitty's parents are dead, and their late father secretly re-mortgaged the house to disreputable moneylenders. The debts come due in less than four months. If Kitty cannot secure the money, she and her four younger sisters will lose their home and be forced to separate. She resolves to travel to London and find a rich husband, bringing her prettiest sister, Cecily, and leaving the next eldest, Beatrice, in charge at home.

They arrive at the home of Mrs. Kendall, whom they call Aunt Dorothy, a former actress and courtesan who reinvented herself as an affluent widow. Dorothy was the closest friend of Kitty's late mother, who shared her theatrical background. She drills the sisters in deportment, etiquette, and fashion, transforming them into convincing young ladies of quality. At the Theatre Royal, Kitty spots the de Lacy family: the widowed Countess Lady Radcliffe and her two youngest children, Mr. Archibald (Archie) de Lacy and Lady Amelia. Dorothy explains the de Lacys are immensely wealthy but far beyond their reach.

Kitty engineers an encounter in Hyde Park by faking a stumble when Cecily recognizes Lady Amelia from boarding school. Archie retrieves Kitty's slipper, and she quickly secures daily walks with both siblings. She flatters Archie while learning he will soon turn 21 and inherit a considerable fortune. Lady Radcliffe grows suspicious, and when Cecily innocently mentions their lack of money, the Countess bars the Talbots from her home. Kitty counters by sending a fictional herbal remedy for the lady's fainting spells, betting she craves sympathy for her ailments. The gamble works: Lady Radcliffe declares herself cured and welcomes Kitty as a frequent visitor.

The family's eldest son, Lord Radcliffe, known as James, has been living in semi-isolation at his Devonshire estate since fighting at Waterloo and losing his father. When Archie writes declaring his intent to marry Miss Talbot, James reluctantly returns to London. He sees through Kitty's act immediately and resolves to end the attachment, but Kitty counters his every move with engineered encounters.

At Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, Kitty speaks privately with Archie, who proposes. She accepts conditionally, asking him to first secure his family's approval. Radcliffe then confronts Kitty with what his servant has uncovered: Her mother was a courtesan, and her father, a gentleman, was disowned for marrying her, which is the true reason the Linfields broke off the engagement. He threatens exposure; she counter-threatens to elope with Archie to Gretna Green, a Scottish village where couples could marry without parental consent. Their standoff resolves in a deal: Radcliffe will introduce Kitty to high society so she can find another wealthy husband, and she will leave Archie alone.

Kitty arrives at Radcliffe's home, notebook in hand, to learn the rules of elite society. He teaches her curtseys and dinner etiquette, then persuades his mother to invite the Talbots to her dinner party opening the Season, London's annual social and marriage calendar for the elite. Kitty charms the guests with an invented story about an eccentric father who kept the family secluded. Cecily bonds with the young Lord Montagu over Sapphic philosophy. Kitty secures invitations to three upcoming balls.

At the Montagu ball, Radcliffe dances with Kitty as promised, and the sight of the elusive Earl partnering the unknown Miss Talbot generates enormous interest. Her dance card fills rapidly. A roster of suitors emerges: Mr. Pemberton, wealthy but patronizing; Mr. Stanfield, charming and quick-witted; and Mr. Crawton, shy but rich. Meanwhile, Archie, stung by Kitty's apparent loss of interest, falls under the influence of Lord Selbourne, who draws him into reckless gambling circles.

As the Season progresses, Kitty and Radcliffe gravitate toward each other at the margins of ballrooms, sharing increasingly honest conversations. He confesses to nightmares from the war and his hatred of London's indifference to the suffering he witnessed. She gives up a wealthy suitor so a lovesick young woman can pursue him, surprising Radcliffe with her capacity for kindness. She loses Stanfield when his family requires a wealthy bride and redirects her efforts toward Pemberton. Cecily secures the coveted vouchers for Almack's Assembly Rooms, an exclusive venue whose approval signals social legitimacy, through her literary friendship with the strictest patroness.

Tension fractures their closeness when Kitty warns Radcliffe that Archie is gambling dangerously with Selbourne. He dismisses her, accusing her of projecting her experience with her father's gambling. She retaliates by suggesting that his own father, who once sent James away for reckless youthful behavior, was right to do so. They part furiously. At home, Cecily reveals she has fallen in love with Montagu, and Kitty, overwhelmed, dismisses her sister's feelings, provoking their worst argument.

On the night Pemberton is expected to propose, two crises erupt. Captain Henry Hinsley, Radcliffe's closest friend, arrives with news that Selbourne has lured Archie into a rigged card game intending to fleece him of his fortune. Kitty abandons the proposal and races through a violent storm with Hinsley. She enters the manor with an unloaded pistol and bluffs Selbourne into releasing Archie. Meanwhile, Sally, Aunt Dorothy's housemaid, discovers that Cecily has eloped with Montagu and rushes to Radcliffe. He pursues the couple north, finds their carriage destroyed by a fallen tree, and retrieves an unhurt Cecily from a nearby inn.

Both rescue parties converge at Wimpole Street. After the others depart, Kitty and Radcliffe are left alone. She is unraveling: She is not engaged, she failed to protect Cecily, and she is no closer to solving her family's crisis. He gently takes her hand and unbuttons her gloves, one button at a time, without touching her skin. The quiet intimacy stills her. Later, alone in his father's untouched study, Radcliffe sits behind the desk for the first time as Pattson, the family butler, tells him he must stop living in his father's shadow.

Kitty and Cecily reconcile, confessing mutual insecurities. Aunt Dorothy reveals she has quietly married Mr. Fletcher, a gentleman she loved years ago. The sisters prepare for their final London ball.

At that ball, Radcliffe asks Kitty to waltz. He confesses that knowing her has changed him and that her birth no longer matters. She pulls him into the garden, where she tells him she will always choose her sisters' needs over her own desires but wants him just as much as she needs money. He proposes, acknowledging her four sisters, her leaking roof, and her ocean of debt. She accepts.

The next morning, Radcliffe arrives with a promissory note covering the family's debts in full. Kitty, Cecily, and James travel to Dorsetshire. When Netley Cottage comes into view, the front door bursts open and her three younger sisters come spilling out. Kitty stands still for a moment, breathing in the air of home, certain she is exactly where she needs to be.