Euphemia Ffinch, godmother to Lucinda Eleanor, has been travelling since she retired as nanny to the Regalian royal family.
Buttons the dog has lived in the basement with Cindy since his master died, while her stepmother and stepsisters live upstairs and treat her as a servant.
Prince Alfred of Regalia is dreading his birthday ball; his stutter gets worse in company and the daughters of the nobility look down on him. They are all taller than he is. He’d rather invite the girl he met online.
Euphemia learns that Cindy’s father has died. Her intuition tells her she is needed back in Regalia, but someone is trying to stop her.