 Napoleon has been exiled to Elba, the English have returned from the wars, and Major Richard Sharpe finds himself in a sort of exile to lead a company of Yorkshire Yeomen. His duties include protecting mill owners from restless workers who are on the verge of strike or outright revolt. Meanwhile, Sharpe s faithless wife and her lover fall within range of Sharpe s wrath. Sharpe, with his two of his devoted Chosen Men nearby, must decide whether to continue to protect the mill owners or to take the side of their fiercely downtrodden workers.