Young Manon Jenkins, growing up in the sleepy village of Five Saints in the heart of Wales, has led a comfortable and secure life as the only daughter of an elderly, doting vicar. She dabbles in herbalism and seems to have the gift of healing. But when her father dies of a sudden heart attack she finds herself homeless, and the only solution is to join the cattle drovers on the long journey to London. ife on the trail is hard; the women walk for the greater part of the journey over rugged terrain, and when the drive reaches the outskirts of London where the cattle are to be fattened up for the sales at Smithfields, they have to turn their hands to any work they can find. But on the heady, star-filled nights on the trail Manon becomes enchanted by Caradoc, the eldest son of the powerful Lloyd family, the founders of Lloyds Bank. In those days it was called the Bank of the Black Ox, and Manon is dazzled by Caradoc's charm and wealth. She succumbs to his advances, later finding herself abandoned and pregnant on the streets of London - but she never gives up hope of returning to the life she left in the peaceful valleys of Wales.