Fletcher Christian and Isabella Curwen are first cousins who grow up together in the Lake District; kindred spirits who, like Heathcliff and Cathy, are bound to fall in love. But Isabella is promised to another cousin, John, and Fletcher, dashing though he is, comes from the poor side of the family.

When Isabella, an only child and heir to the Curwen fortune, inherits and John becomes her guardian, he and her relations conspire to prevent her and Fletcher's union. Isabella marries John; Fletcher joins the Navy and later signs on for the Bounty voyage. And the rest, you might think, is history. In fact, it is only the first act in the drama of Fletcher and Isabella ...