1630: after long years of peace the reign of Charles I brings brutal civil war to Engl&. The clash between King & Parliament is echoed at Morland Place when Richard brings home a Puritan bride while his brother Kit joins Prince Rupert & the Royalist cavalry leaving their father Edmund desperately trying to steer a middle course between the fighting factions. As the war grinds on bitterness & disillusion replace the early fervour & the schisms between husband & wife father & son grow deeper. Edmund struggles grimly through it all in an attempt to keep the Morland fortune intact but he is thwarted by the estrangement between his sons & then alienated from his beloved wife Mary.