A former courtesan, even though, to the discomfort of her children, she's not at all reformed. Sophia married an earl, gave him two children, and when he died she raised them to be exactly what they were: English aristocrats.

The only fly in the ointment was that Sophia was still carrying around her old reputation as a courtesan, not that she minded. It did present problems, however, for her daughter and the need to make a good marriage to a member of the aristocracy.

Sophia, as any self-respecting courtesan, ahem, former courtesan would, has a plan. But Caroline, Sophia's daughter, has her own plans for how to acquire a man and they don't necessarily include marriage.

Caroline is, in every way imaginable, her mother's daughter.