It is 1820 and Jessica, grieving for the loss of her fiancée at Waterloo, accompanies her clergyman father on an expedition to South Africa with the intention of continuing her work as a schoolteacher and helping him to minister to the spiritual needs of settlers whom the British Government is encouraging to take up land grants to form a buffer against the incursions of the native population on the border. On the long outward voyage she meets the enigmatic Finbar O’Rourke, the ship’s surgeon, Miles Draycott, a ruthless entrepreneur and his predatory sister-in-law Beatrice. As Jessica struggles to control her growing feelings for Finbar, Beatrice sets her cap at him whilst Draycott becomes besotted with Jessica. The tensions within the group reach a climax as the ship finally arrives at South Africa and continues beyond as the settlers struggle to make a living in the unfamiliar, hostile environment of the interior.