The fued between the Warwycks and the Radcliffes is almost a byword in Easthampton. Stretching back over three generations, it is fervently maintained now, in 1882, as it was when Daniel Warwyck first clashed with Alexander Radcliffe over the development of the hamlet into a seaside resort some sixty years previously.For young Tom Warwyck, aged nineteen and determined to prove himself a yacht designer, the rift is simply a fact oflife, as unquestioned as the family saying 'Never trust a Radcliffe.' And yet there comes a time when he must do just that, trust Nicolette Radcliffe or else perhaps risk his life at the hands of her less merciful brothers.