After discovering her fiance in the arms of a parlour maid, Lady Athena McAlister comes to a frightful realization: most men prefer the company of their mistresses to their wives. How can she, and other brides-to-be, become both wife and mistress to a man? In her quest for knowledge, she begs her wealthy grandfather for money to start a finishing school for marriageable young ladies. There she and her friends discreetly invite London's most notorious rakes to educate them on the art of seducing a man. Marshall Hawkesworth's sister has become far too knowledgeable about the ways of sex, and he suspects that her new finishing school is to blame. Marshall poses as a lecturer on several topics, including sensual kissing, and he soon finds Lady Athena to be a most apt pupil. But before he has her school shut down for good, he's determined to give her a few private lessons she won't soon forget.