George Pennington is a magistrate who dominates the local gentry. His two sons are treated very differently. He swore he would never cane his son like his father did him, and Frederick, his eldest son, he never did. It was different with his second son Michael, who enlists in the Army, knowing he has deliberately withheld his inheritance from his grandfather.
Frederick is engaged to a gentle girl, Diana Butterwick. When a new family comes to the area, they bring a very pushy young lady. She decides she wants to marry Frederick for his money, and deals with the engagement by making Diana seem to be a thief. George evicts Diana from a party with no cape or shoes, not caring if she will freeze or starve.
When Michael returns from the Napoleonic Wars he finds his brother married to the pushy girl. There is no word of what happened to Diana, who he remembers with fondness.
Michael sets out to find Diana Butterwick, and he is determined to get justice for his father's past actions.