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.