Scotland, 1743. In Blackwater Castle, in the Highlands, the Duke of Plaxton is looking for a new portrait painter. A member of Clan Grant, supporters of the Act of Union with England, the duke has a son, William, whose heart leans towards the Jacobite cause, and a daughter, Amelia, betrothed to an English lord she has never met. It's there, in this crucible of rebellion and ambitions, that arrives Joseph Callander, local boy back from years spent in Italy, and talented painter ...