England 1330: on a remote Devonshire estate. Young and innocent Joan de Chiddeigh is struggling with her new status as Lady of the Manor.
Lonely and neglected by her ambitious husband, Sir John, she strikes up a forbidden friendship with a kitchen maid called Annie. However, Annie is hiding a terrible dark secret.
As their friendships deepens, Joan finds herself getting more and more entangled in a chain of lies that will divide her and Sir John, threaten the Chiddleigh estate and change lives forever.

Devonshire, England 1348: the plague is sweeping the land. Young Lord Thomas de Chiddleigh is sent home from school only to discover that the plague has reached his estate, forcing him to take on the role of Lord of the Manor.
Desperate to avoid the plague and save the few surviving people, Thomas leads them to a remote farmstead, intending to wait out the plague and return to his studies in the spring.
However, the farmstead is derelict and with few supplies, Thomas and his group face a perilous winter.
Tensions mount as the inexperienced Thomas clashes repeatedly with his workers, some of whom are harbouring dark secrets about his family.
Thomas’s life is further complicated when he meets Rulf, a young man who has levels of confidence Thomas can only dream of. As their friendship deepens, and past secrets are revealed, Thomas has to decide between the duty he hates, his burning passion for knowledge and his forbidden love.