In 1833, the railway age brings Benedict Morland back to Yorkshire as an engineer on the Leeds and Selby line. He hopes to earn enough to marry Miss Fleetham, but his return alarms his brother Nicholas, who regards him as a rival for both the inheritance and the future of Morland Place. Plans for a railway to York threaten to cut across the estate itself.
The brothers’ feud embodies the national conflict between landed privilege and industrial modernity. Benedict sees engineering as useful progress; Nicholas sees only invasion and loss of authority. As the Stephensons pursue a route linking Liverpool and London, the Morlands are drawn toward a confrontation in which family jealousy and economic transformation become inseparable, leaving tragedy more likely than reconciliation.
