Antonia Venn describes herself as a very average sort of female—certainly nothing to win the heart of a man of fortune or fashion. In a bid for independence and at a time when the waltz was born, she decides to open a dancing school in Bath, despite the misgivings of her family. And it is here that she is persuaded to take on Isabella Burstock as a pupil. However, this decision puts Antonia on a collision course with the young heiress' autocratic brother.