William Mayfield travels to London to drown his sorrows and rebuild his life. There he is swept up in the tide of Elizabethan England. He witnesses a bear baiting and a murder. He finds a reason to live and to love again and he is embroiled in the Treasonous Gunpower Plot. When he survives the Great Fire of 1666, he realizes he must make some difficult decisions as he watches the world change while he remains the same.