From the cover: Phillipa Gray, an orphan, aged eight, is traveling to live with her grandfather. She meets the Dean of Carrich on the way and he is astonished to learn that she has lost her belief in faeries. But she regains it in the enchanted country...With tragedy, appears a mysterious benefactor-guardian who seems obsessed with the idea of creating a perfect woman. Thus, as the years pass, Phillipa acquires every desirable attribute that a young lady of great expectations should possess, yet she does not learn who is responsible for her good fortune [till the end of the story].