FOR twenty years Fontaine Shaw, granddaughter of Nathaniel Shaw, railroad and mining tycoon, had lived her life with reckless abandon.

But her startling exploits began to catch up with her when she bailed a burlesque dancer out of Night Court and deposited her on the doorstep of Jock Pemberton, serious young pro- fessor of American History at the Brent School.

The events that followed were unexpected and far-reaching in their results. For Fontaine, Jock and the dancer suddenly found themselves obliged to join forces in order to meet the almost impossible challenge of Nathaniel Shaw's last will and testament.