For three hundred years there have been D'alquens at Westings. Sir James intends that his line shall continue there in spite of modern taxation and the war that killed his sons. His daughter, Drusilla, agrees with him. This was her main motive in becoming engaged to her cousin, Julian, heir to the entailed estate. But a mysterious shadow spreads across life at Westings. Before it clears, murder is done, and all that Drusilla has cherished is threatened.