A woman coming of age early in the  century had few choices... unless she had independent  means. Bess Steed Garner inherits a legacy -- of  wealth, determination, and desire. She loves one  man with all her heart only to discover the price  of such devotion. She struggles with the flaws of  marriage and its irresistible rewards. She sets  out to conquer high society and forces oil-rich  Dallas to its knees. But her own daughter may break  her heart... and the man she chooses may rob her  of the one thing she prizes the most -- her  manipulating, delightful, bossy, and believable  independence. For Bess is a woman of independent means.