During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.

Olivia Brownlow, born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, is as tough and cunning as they come. Taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, she's now a debutante in high society. But she can't forget the teeming slums where children still scrabble to survive. Jack MacCarron, once known as the Artful Dodger, became the adopted "nephew" of a society matron. He and his "aunt" are robbing society blind every chance...