The year is 1851. Young John Murray Eden has brought his father, the beloved philanthropist Edward Eden, back to the family estate to be buried. He has also come to assert his claim as his father's rightful heir, despite his illegitimacy and his father's wilful renunciation of the vast Eden fortunes. Yet the climb to acceptance will prove to be more difficult than he could have imagined. Meanwhile Lady Harriet Eden, married to the Edward's brother, leads a life of duplicity. Secretly in love with the deceased Edward, Harriet endures her marriage and strains to keep things normal for her two children. But with John's arrival, Harriet's demons resurface. Faced with the a younger version of Edward, the memories she'd suppressed for the sake of her family, arise with vigour... Despite the obvious physical resemblance, Lady Harriet is under the impression John's mother died while he was an infant, and Harriet has no choice but to insist John proves his heritage - with disastrous consequences. In a bid to escape the horrors that arise at Eden Castle, John returns to the woman who was more than a mother to him: Elizabeth. But as John finds his way through life, he realises his path is destined to be rocky - and that it will lead him, inexorably, back to Eden Castle...