Alfred Cameron, the owner of a prosperous coaching firm, his wife Felicity and their beautiful daughter Augusta enjoy a life of privilege and luxury, surrounded by servants and the trappings of success. But the family firm is in danger - threatened by the encroaching railways, and undermined from within by one of their coachmen, Luther Gunnet - a ruthlessly ambitious man who will do anything to raise his family from the slums. One disastrous, snow-swept night, a series of tragic events begins that will shatter the comfortable world of the Camerons, and bring spectacular reversal of fortune none of them could have imagined in their wildest dreams.