From the start, it is clear that she has a very low opinion of Jacky, going so far as to have her earring cut off and her mail seized to keep her from sending letters to her beloved, Midshipman Jaimy Fletcher.

Clarissa Worthington Howe, an arrogant Virginia heiress who enjoys abusing the school staff, takes an instant dislike to Jacky and insults her mother, resulting in a fight between the girls.

Eager to please Pimm, Jacky throws herself into her classes, which include horse riding, art, music, embroidery, French, and etiquette.

Humiliated, Pimm assigns Jacky to work as a lowly servant, while Mather petitions the court to appoint him as her legal guardian.

While meeting with her lawyer, Ezra Pickering, she also learns that Janey Porter's death was declared a suicide, but was briefly suspected to be murder.

Having grown increasingly attracted to Amy's brother Randall, Jacky attends a party at her family's mansion, during which she gets drunk and makes a fool of herself.

[3] Tricia Melgaard, writing for School Library Journal, called the novel "fabulous",[4] while Kirkus Reviews referred to it as a "perfectly delicious" and a "rousing adventure".

[3] Melgaard also indicated that the main character, Jacky, is "loyal, clever, sassy, impudent, and just a little bit naughty," which makes her "a protagonist to admire".