When Gervase Frant, Seventh Earl of St Erth, returns at last from Waterloo to his family seat at Stanyon, he enjoys a less-than-welcoming homecoming. Only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him, and when he meets his stepmother and young half-brother he senses open disappointment that he survived the wars. The dangers of the Lincolnshire countryside are quite different from those of the battlefield.