The fourth volume in the Clifton family saga opens in 1957 with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend? When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner. In London, Harry and Emma's daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Jessica's future mother-in-law has a visit from a friend who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice. Then Cedric Hardcastle, a Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes upheaval and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle's first decision is who to support to become the chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Alex Fisher? And with that the story takes yet another twist.