Charlie, Kitty, Max and Liza are first cousins and lifelong friends. Charlie is an aspiring barrister, Kitty is expected to marry, Max is too spoiled for his own good, Liza too ambitious. They belong to the vast St Clair clan, a distinguished and wealthy power in the land, where judges and QC's rub shoulders with black sheep and eccentrics, and where, above all, weakness is frowned upon. But the family is not as secure as it seems. Foolish business decisions rock its finances; a bitter and public divorce unsettle its stability. And when two of the cousins declare their love for each other, this threatens to destroy the family's very foundations and reveal a tragic secret that has lain buried for over half a century.