Under Capricorn

1831. Charles Adare has just arrived in Sydney, New South Wales to make his fortune like many British expatriates have done before him in this frontier land. He is part of the entourage of the newly appointed Governor, Sir Richard, his second cousin. Beyond the connection, Charles has no skill or money of his own on which to build that fortune. He learns that part of doing business here is not speaking of the past, as many of those who have made their fortune are ex-convicts who are considered to have paid their debt to society in their time served. One of those who has both served his time and made his subsequent fortune is Sam Flusky, a land baron. While many men will do business with Sam in he seeming honorable, many of their wives will not associate with the Fluskys because of his wife largely on hearsay and gossip. Charles too is warned by Sir Richard not to associate with the Fluskys because of that gossip and the potential scandal to their family. Regardless, Charles does attend a gathering at the Flusky estate in having entered into a business relationship with Sam. Charles not only discovers that Sam's wife, Lady Henrietta - Hatty - is a childhood friend from back in Ireland - thus that they are the same Fluskys about which there was much scandal back in Ireland surrounding a murder - but that she does suffer from delusions which do not allow her to function in general society. In Hatty's general state of incapacity, the Flusky estate is managed by the housekeeper Milly with an iron fist. In forming a renewed friendship with Hatty, Charles is able to bring her out of her shell, which leads to feelings developing between the two. Someone has ulterior motives in making Charles and Hatty's relationship more than the sum of its parts, which is complicated by a long held secret and attempted murder.