The Thornes are an eminent Catholic family who suffer under the laws of eighteenth-century England. They are forced to live in fear and poverty. Not only this, but Magda Thorne is married to a corrupt opportunist who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even going so far as seizing the Thorne estate to gain entry to King George's court. Magda remains blind to her husband's vices and wicked ways until the Gordon Riots explode onto the streets, tearing through London in search of innocent Catholic victims. These very riots threaten to engulf the Thornes and bring them to the subsequent upheavals and hardships that befell all Catholics.