There's consternation among the villagers of Prior's Ford when a firm is
interested in re-opening an old granite quarry. It'll be disruptive,
noisy and dusty, despite bringing in some new jobs. Publican Glen
organises a protest group - but when a local newspaper takes an interest
in him and the story, he begins to feel nervous. And when Jenny Forsyth
attends a protest meeting, she is shocked to discover the quarry
surveyor is an unwelcome face from her past.
Clarissa Ramsay, newly widowed, is too preoccupied to care much about
the threat facing the village - she's just discovered her husband Keith
had a secret life; while up at Linn Hall the impoverished Ralson-Kerrs
find that the changes threatened by the quarry represent a test of
loyalty to the village that regards them as its lairds.