Tobias Campion, rector of Moreton St Jude, is delighted to welcome the widowed Lady Chase as his parishioner. Charming and generous-spirited, she nonetheless harbours a secret sorrow: her son, Hugo, is missing, presumed dead, and not even the great Arthur Wellesley's best efforts can locate him - or his body. However, she clings desperately to the belief that he will one day reappear. Her late husband's nephew, Sir Marcus Bramhall, making a prolonged and unwelcome visit to Moreton Hall, clearly does not share her hopes. Instead, he speaks darkly of bringing a court case to declare him the heir. Much as he loathes the upstart, Tobias cannot hate one member of his family - the lovely Lady Dorothea enchants him from the start, not least because she is the only person in the entire household to show any sympathy towards the enigmatic governess, Anne Southey. Then Miss Southey disappears the very day that the body of a stranger is found in a local river. Surely she has not had a hand in his death? When it transpires that the man might have been bringing news of the missing heir, Tobias and his loyal groom, Jem Turbeville, are forced to quit their beloved village to uncover the truth. Unfortunately, many of those they encounter in their travels are equally determined to keep the past well hidden.