Already abandoned by her father, who long ago had left her and her mother for the gaieties and beautiful courtesans of the Second Empire in Paris, the lovely Lady Theresa Holme is lost when her beloved mother dies. She has inherited a fortune but she finds that blessing is also a curse when her uncle and now Guardian, the new Earl of Denholme, insists that she must marry his son so that he can get his greedy fingers on her money. Her hatred of all men, inspired by her father's treachery and deceit towards her mother, is now confirmed and she flees to France accompanied only by her faithful companion, Gennie. As her mother has taught her the subtle art of French cuisine, she sets out to find work in France as a cook. By a lucky chance on the train to Paris she encounters a glamorous lady, who suggests that she tries the secretary of the Marquis de Sare. She is engaged and she and Gennie travel to the Marquis's enchanted but isolated château in the Pyrenees. Theresa instantly becomes enamoured by the chateau and even more so by a noble tiger in its private menagerie and she begins to feel content and happy. Her employer, the Marquis, is at first suspicious of her and stubbornly she hates him as all other men. But somehow, without her realising it, she finds that she has fallen in love. First with the tiger named Le Roi. And then, profoundly, with his Master, the equally noble and handsome Marquis de Sare.

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation. Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world. She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven. Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1& 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed. Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.