 Later, at a party, Desford meets Charity Steane, who prefers to be called “Cherry.” She is almost nineteen years old, but is basically being used as an unpaid servant by the aunt and cousins with whom she has lived since her father abandoned her and failed to pay the bill at her boarding school.Desford later encounters Charity running away from home and, against his better judgment and the morals of the 19th century that say a man can easily compromise a young unattended woman by being on the road with her, he takes her to her grandfather’s house in London .However, upon arriving in London, it’s apparent that Cherry’s grandfather, Lord Nettlecombe, has left his London home for the season.