With their beloved parents long passed away, the beautiful Angela Brooke and her brother Trevor are penniless and the upkeep of the dilapidated family Priory is all but impossible to manage.
Then one day Trevor returns from London with an exciting plan, a chance for Angela to earn the princely sum of one thousand pounds, which is more than enough to solve their financial problems just by playing 'make-believe' for a very short time.
The legendary George Edwardes, the impresario behind the famous and glamorous Gaiety Girls and the shows at London's Gaiety Theatre has promised that the Gaiety Girls will appear in an exclusive show at the Marquis of Vauxhall's own private theatre.
The trouble is that the star of his play based on The Rake's Progress, which the Marquis himself has written to entertain his guests, has been taken ill and, afraid to disappoint the Marquis, George Edwardes is desperate for another angelic beauty to take her place.
Who better, Trevor argues, than Angela, who was so named for her angelic appearance.
And so, with great trepidation, Angela arrives at the stately home of the handsome and haughty Marquis where, uncharacteristically made up to look like a wanton Gaiety Girl, she attracts the unwanted attention of the Marquis's gentlemen-friends.
But soon her angelic beauty, her excellent equestrian skills and her gentleness with his young daughter pique the curiosity of her host.
And soon he is utterly smitten.