Stately Hawking Manor is home to three generations of Carstairs, and holds ominous secrets. An act of revenge on the road to London brings to light some of these, and results in the death of Sir Henry, the patriarch, and his oldest son, Andrew. But with the coming of age of the next generation of Carstairs brothers new secrets are born.
From childhood, Henry, the oldest son of Samuel and Meredith Carstairs, distresses those who love him with his dark side. He is unwilling to be disciplined or show affection for anyone but Hannah, the young governess of the estate. He despises Benjamin, his younger brother. In a desperate attempt to curb their oldest son’s wild ways, his parents eventually send him to the Dragoons, hoping that in the cavalry he will learn to be disciplined. But the years with the horsemen bring him together in friendship with Eugene Fairham, an unscrupulous brawler, who loves the night. Not the horsemen but Louisa, a beautiful and headstrong woman, finally is the catalyst for change in Henry.
Benjamin, the youngest Carstairs, is bright, angelic looking, but not without mischief. On the night he is celebrating with Henry the completion of his own private school studies, Henry’s friend, Eugene, ships Benjamin to the North American continent on the Fortune Four in an act of trickery.
Benjamin turns the misfortune into an adventure. With a new friend the 17-year old leaves Boston, and sails around Cape Horn on a Clipper ship determined to go and search for gold at the American River. Along the way Benjamin finds manhood and an estate. But his dream is to search for his beloved uncle Andrew’s wife, Proud Gazelle, and his daughter, Clarissa.
Clarissa and her mother had been captured by a band of Blackfoot warriors years earlier, and all of Andrew's efforts to rescue them had been in vain. After months at the American River and with high hopes, Benjamin ventures into dangerous and uncharted territory in his search for Clarissa. But the vastness of the continent with its many dangers, the loneliness of months on horseback, and his yearning for home, bring Benjamin near to despair. After months of fruitless struggles, he is ready to give up the search and return home.
An unexpected meeting with a former friend at a Hudson Bay post leads Benjamin to find Clarissa. On the night of Henry’s son’s birth, Samuel sees his own dream come true when his youngest son rounds the old oak tree and speeds his stallion toward Hawking Manor, his home.
After the many months in the wilderness, it is at home where Benjamin encounters his greatest danger. He and Henry confront a vengeful Eugene and embrace their brotherhood.
In the end, Henry goes after Louisa, who had learned by chance of the day Henry was unfaithful to her. Benjamin too finds love. He proposes o Rebecca with whom he has had a special bond since childhood.
