Longwarden, the coveted English country estate depicted in Anne Weale's last novel, All My Worldly Goods, is once again the centre of a rich, contemporary saga of love, desire, and jealousy. Determined to restore his decaying ancestral home to its former glory, North, the Earl of Carlyon, hires an unlikely group of characters whose intrigues entangle them with the aristocratic owners of the house. The architect supervising the project, James Muirhead, sometimes seems to have more than one design in mind - or so thinks Laura Denham, personal secretary to Jane, the Earl's wealthy American wife. But while Laura is feeling the stirrings of love for the first time in her life, James can remember his past love only with pangs of regret.
Chef Joel Vibrac has a similar problem, except his wife is still with him, though crippled in body and spirit. Longwarden might be a nice place for Lucy to live, were it not for the additional strain on their marriage imposed by Joel's daily encounters with Damaris Lynn, the sensuous but strangely aloof gardener.
Meanwhile, the Carlyon family continues to grow as Jane gives birth to an heir to North’s position and her fortune, and North’s cousin Sarah, equestrian extraordinaire, delivers the love child of her disappeared love. In spite of all this, North's sister Allegra is in another world as she grieves her lover's suicide ... until she realizes she must escape the painful memories that Longwarden bears for her, in search of a new kind of happiness. Wrestling with these fiery emotions, the family and staff at Longwarden hardly notice that the house itself is in danger, as an unknown arsonist with vengeance in mind begins to visualize their great mansion ablaze....