Nineteenth-century England, in the rural town of Wingfield. An apprentice butler named Christopher Luckenbooth has been sent from London to serve Lady Vivian N.M.N. Wingfield, the local feudal lord. As he steps into his new posting, he encounters a world where spirits and fairies move alongside the living: a stern senior butler who will serve as his guide; a wolf that speaks in human language; a maid chief whose face is that of a child's; an elderly butler who avoids doing any actual work; and a cook who appears to have come from somewhere very far east. Lady Vivian's nineteenth birthday is approaching. So is the town festival held in her honor. And so is the day when the mystery surrounding her will finally surface.