 The heroine, Annis, is one of Heyer's more modern characters.Her wealth and spinsterhood allow her a level of freedom that is unusual in a Heyer novel, as it was in the Regency period.Many of the actions Annis takes, such as moving to a different city despite her family's objections, were common among women living in the 1970s when the novel was written, but in a Regency setting they mark Annis as a bold and unusually independent woman.