Julia and Lydia Esdaile live with their widowed father, Willis, at Knockfane, a 'Big House' and farm where generations of the Esdaile family have lived for centuries. Willis Esdaile, obliged to preserve Knockfane for succeeding generations, and acutely conscious of the weight of his inheritance, inexplicably banishes his only son and heir, Edward, to live with the child's maternal grandfather. A series of unforeseen events threatens to sweep Knockfane...