This spinoff from the 'Charity School' series, follows from 'Anne's Achievement' and includes many of the secondary characters from that book, as they mature and start to think about marriage. It has an underlying theme of music lovers, since music was one of the things which brought Anne and Ellery, Lord Wroth, together in the first place. A house party at Wrotherhyde Hall provides the setting for the disparate personalities from the sharp-tongued Death Morville to the cheerful Harry Tweedie and his dog, Towser. Anne has taken the trouble to entertain her guests with competitions and games, as well as music, and with a ball to culminate the entertainments. The clash of personalities and individual prejudices also produce their own dramas.