Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, was a great Scottish lady of the 17th century. Hamilton Palace, her home, was the most splendid of Scottish houses. This book concerns the texture of her life: what she did, read and wore, how much she paid the servants, and where she educated her children; her breakfast at home and her formal feasting. We accompany the Duke when he goes shopping on his wife's behalf: sympathize with his exasperation when he misread her letter and tried to buy sallantine instead of the fashionable furred scarf called a palantine.