Sophie Latham, the younger daughter of the curate of the parish of Knights Darkleigh, has no prospects other than that of being the unwilling handmaiden to her discontented, complaining mother. A life of dreary genteel poverty stretches before her. She is pretty with a lively personality, but with no dowry and few chances to meet any eligible men, marriage, which would be the only way out of her stifling existence, is not even a possibility. Her beautiful, self centred sister Lucy is engaged to George Harries, one of the soldiers returning from Waterloo. George's family are increasingly prosperous yeoman farmers rising up the social scale. But it is August 1815 and change is happening. Sophie's brother Robert is also one of the returning soldiers, but injured and not knowing what to do with his life. New people have come to live in the remote Cotswold valley of Darkleigh. The narrative reveals answers to the questions: Why has Major James Howard imposed himself on Sophie's family? What is his relationship with Caroline Firth, a young widow who has befriended Sophie? Why does Sophie find Mr Freeman, the imposing Evangelical preacher, so frightening? The answers challenge Sophie, her family and neighbours, as well as the incomers themselves.