Halifax, 1832. Anne Lister returns from Hastings to Shibden Hall, having discovered that her would-be companion and lover, the aristocratic Vere Hobart, has accepted a marriage proposal from a man. Despite her affection for her elderly aunt, Anne is frustrated by the shabbiness of her ancestral home and finds her father and long-suffering sister difficult to live with.

During a visit to York, Anne is delighted when Doctor Belcombe confirms that she is the perfect tonic for Ann Walker's nervous disorder. When the news of a bereavement arrives at Cliff Hill, Ann's desperate reaction makes Anne suspect that there's more to it and that Ann has secrets of her own. As her rivalry with Christopher Rawson heats up, Anne plans to re-open her old coal mines and sink her own shaft.