In the picturesque town of Horston, the death of the mayor's new wife upsets the daily calm and reveals its inhabitants' old secrets, mixed with the eternal passions of love, revenge and ambition. In 1866, an idyllic town in the south of England will find its tranquility disturbed by the murder of the mayor's wife. This coincides with the fall in the value of shares in the railway industry and many families will find themselves making an effort to hide their economic situation from the rest of the neighbours. In this turbulent atmosphere when everybody suspects everybody else, Dankworth falls in love with Elizabeth Holstead, the daughter of a man who owes him a lot of money.