Hampton Court, 1522: two young men, both heirs to an earldom, both rivals. Their hatred comes to a climax when Queen Katherine of Aragon brings her ladies-in-waiting to Cardinal Wolsey's luxurious palace. One of the ladies, Anne Boleyn, is to marry James Butler, son of the Earl of Ormond in Ireland, but appears more attracted to Harry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. And when a member of the cardinal's staff is found shot dead with an arrow, Percy is quick to give evidence that implicates Butler. With Percy's testimony unexpectedly backed by Boleyn, things start to look bleak for the young Irishman. Luckily, his father has sent a Brehon lawyer, Hugh Mac Egan, over from Ormond to draw up the marriage contract between the Butlers and the Boleyns. With many years' experience in solving crimes, Mac Egan sets out to find the real killer.