Ellen is invited to join her friend at the local foxhunt and it goes horribly wrong for both of them, captured by a couple who are against the hunt they are punished for the 'crime' of foxhunting in a disturbing way
Cecil Farner has his life set out for him, his parents deciding that he should 'take the cloth' and become a missionary through an obscure religious sect, despite him having no real faith in it at all. He is also tutored toward manhood by his ex-Governess privately, and soon learns that she and the religious order are inextricably linked. He finds that the order is run by the authority of some very domineering women, whose intention is to put him to good use overseas, but not as he'd thought.