Mary moves in with her Aunt when her mother passes away, avoiding her marriage to local boy Ned. Her Aunt Patience has changed remarkably when Mary finally arrives, as her uncle Joss has battered her down from the woman she once used to be. Mary finds herself drawn to Joss' brother Jem Meryln but has been warned away from him before now.

Joss' night terrors lead to some dramatic confessions as Mary begins to settle in to life at the Inn. Mary confides in Francis Davey, the local vicar and his sister Hannah, when she learns of the sailors Joss has killed. Jem saves Mary later on when she finds herself in peril on the Moors.

Mary doesn't know who to trust as the net on her uncle and his smuggling tightens and Jem is taken into custody. Jem wants to avoid his and his brother's sentence of been hung and so makes its his mission to discover the identity of the man who gives Joss his orders. Mary tries to convince her Aunt to escape from Joss.