Provocative 16-year-old Vanessa was a member of the powerful and avaricious Ratcliffe family, and Angus Cotton a rough diamond who lived down among the goods yards. Events were to draw the pair together. When Bridget McQueen announces she is getting married to a sailor, her family are delighted - until they see him and realise he is coloured. Her marriage fires a family feud that was to extend into the next generation.