Left destitute after her father's suicide, Mary Grace Michaels follows handsome Hyde Fortune's advice and goes to Heaven's Gate, a monastery,to earn her keep sewing. Although Father Luc expressly forbids sexual contact, Mary soon discovers that the monks are quite eager to help her discover many levels of lust and sensuality--and her roommate, the sultry Sybil, removes the last of Mary's inhibitions. A chocolate cherry-dipping orgy leads to punishment, and Mary is declared the Celebrant at the Rites of the Vernal Equinox as her penance.Sybil, as resourceful as she is brazen, devises an optical illusion--not to mention edible costumes--so Mary Grace can defy the abbot and declare her love for Hyde.