Oliver Cromwell's cold heart would restrain his daughter's passion; Among Cromwell's seven children, Frances is the most rebellious and passionate, kicking against her Puritan upbringing, but her controlling father is not amused. When Cromwell finds her with her first love, Jeremiah White, Jeremiah claims that he was asking her permission for the hand of her maid. Cromwell, knowing the truth, then cruelly arranges Jeremiah's marriage to the maid. Frances's romantic wishes are thwarted again when the exiled Charles Stuart shows an interest in her. Cromwell, now Lord Protector, could never countenance such an alliance - to the son of the man he had put to death. But Frances will not be enslaved by her father, even if he is the most powerful man in England.