The tenth Earl of Narbrooke is a miser. He is obsessed with money and is prepared to starve himself as well as his household and will not give a penny to his family even though he is the Head of it. He has locked himself away in his vast mansion and neglects the estate until it becomes a disgrace. Colonel Euan Campbell, who had been wounded in the War with Napoleon, is very hard-up and accepts the position of managing the Earl"s horses. He is given a cottage for his wife and his daughter, Devona, aged thirteen. The Colonel is killed by a wild horse that the Earl insists on buying because it was cheap and, as they are destitute, Mrs. Campbell and Devonia are taken into the big house so that they can help the servants although they are not paid. Mrs. Campbell dies of pneumonia in the unheated house while Devona stays on. Then one morning the miserly Earl is found dead from a stroke and Devona sends a message to the next Earl who lives in London. Before he arrives, however, she...