This story is set in London in 1771. Plain, sensible, Tabitha Prewett is the only daughter of a tailor. Beautiful, delicate Mariette de St Aubyn is the daughter of aristocratic French emigres, who move into Bloomsbury Square. Despite the differences in class and religion - the St Aubyns are Catholics, the Prewetts Protestant - the two girls form a deep friendship that will sustain them throughout the many challenges and tragedies that life throws at them - and will survive even their shared love for the same man, Conor Townclear, an Irish baronet...