Nobody could predict the consequences when ravishing Zuleika Dobson arrives at Oxford, to visit her grandfather, the college warden. Formerly a governess, she has landed on the occupation of prestidigitator, and thanks to her overwhelming beauty - and to a lesser extent her professional talents - she takes the town by storm, gaining admittance to her grandfather"s college. It is there, at the institution inspired by Beerbohm"s own alma mater, that she falls in love with the Duke of Dorset.