Measham Hall

England, 1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the Civil Wars are yet to heal and now the Great Plague engulfs the land. Alethea Hawthorne is safe inside the walls of the Calverton household as a lady's companion waiting in anticipation of the day she can return to her ancestral home of Measham Hall.

For Nicholas Hawthorne, the Catholic heir to Measham Hall in Derbyshire, subterfuge is part of everyday life. But there are deeper and darker secrets even than his family's outlawed religion: why is his father, Sir William, so reclusive? What became of his mother, and his aunt Alethea? And who fatally betrayed his cousin Matthew?

1690. England is in crisis – the new protestant King William III has embarked on wars in France and Ireland, inflation is rampant and the price of corn is causing riots. At Measham Hall, Sir William Hawthorne faces a predicament of his own: his loyal steward has died, and he must find another. His problems appear to have been solved when the charming Mr Goodwyn arrives with a mysterious letter of recommendation and takes up the post. But soon, to the rest of the household's dismay, Goodwyn appears to have both Sir William and the estate dancing to his tune.