Thomas Wyatt dreams of a future with his first love in Colonial Boston. She suggests he become a doctor. He wants to improve his standing with her wealthy parents, and for her he works his way from berry patch to the halls of Great Britains finest medical school. Just before he is to make the long voyage, he is shattered by her admission that her parents have arranged a marriage for her with a wealthy Tory merchants son. He regretfully leaves his family behind to secure some sort of future as a doctor.

After graduation, he settles into a joint practice in London and falls in love with an apothecarys daughter. As the Revolutionary War rages on, he is haunted by fear for his family and by a promise he made to his first love. He joins His Majestys army to return to the Colonies to find them and save them if he can or learn their fates.