Dexter

Rejected by her would-be companion Vere Hobart, Anne Lister returns to her shabby ancestral home, Shibden Hall, determined to restore its fortunes and find herself a wife.

Lister begins a playful but dangerous courtship of Ann Walker, who quickly finds herself captivated by the attentions of her neighbor. Lister's plan to excavate her coal mines brings her into the path of local magistrate Christopher Rawson and his brother, Jeremiah. Back at Shibden, Lister's servant, John Booth, offers a solution to Eugenie's problem.

Lister confides her hopes for a future with Ann Walker to her aunt, as Ann's neighbor Mrs. Priestley's inkling about the two women's relationship presents a threat. Meanwhile, John Booth is surprised at his own romantic success. The Rawson brothers step up their attempts to outmaneuver Lister in the coal business.

During a visit to York, Lister is delighted when Doctor Belcombe confirms that she is the perfect tonic for Ann Walker's nervous disorder. When news of a friend's death arrives, Ann's desperate reaction makes Lister suspect that she has secrets of her own. Meanwhile, as her rivalry with Christopher Rawson heats up, Lister steps up her plan to reopen her old coal mines.

The widowed Reverend Ainsworth arrives in Halifax, and with encouragement from Mrs. Priestley, sets his sights on Ann Walker. Aware that Ainsworth's attentions are stirring up memories for her lover, Lister sets out to deal with the clergyman in her own inimitable manner. Meanwhile, Lister presses on with the transformation of her estate.

With Ann Walker's mental state in a downward spiral, Lister is forced to contemplate traveling to Europe alone. Aunt Anne and Captain Lister endure another visit from the irritating Mr. Abbott. Lister reopens her coal-mine negotiations with the powerful Rawson brothers. Thomas Sowden's secret casts a cloud over his budding relationship with Suzannah Washington.

Before setting off for Europe to escape her heartache, Lister invites Christopher Rawson to Shibden to rebuke him for publicly insulting Marian. Later, Lister comes up with a bold strategy to mine her own coal and expose the Rawson brothers' industrial-scale theft. In Scotland, Ann Walker discovers that her brother-in-law plans to marry her off to his penniless cousin.

Difficult news from Shibden spurs Lister to leave behind her newly aristocratic lifestyle in Denmark, while Ann Walker finds the courage to take control of her own destiny in Scotland.