Characters -- Part One: The barrow boy, London 1884 -- Part Two: New horizons, London-Kent 1887 -- Part Three: Unique relationships, Kingston Upon Hull-London 1888 -- Part Four: The road to destiny, Hull-London 1888 -- Part Five: The way it is, London-Paris 1888-1889.

Victorian England is a country of sharp divides between rich and poor, but James Lionel Falconer is everything a self-made man should be: handsome, ambitious, charming, and brimming with self-confidence. Even as a boy working in his father's market stall in Camden, he was determined to become a merchant prince. Through hard work and a single-minded determination, James rises quickly through the ranks, with a loving wife, devoted children, and a lofty position in the Malvern & Malvern Company. But when back-to-back tragedies strike the Falconer home, shattering this idyllic life, it seems as though James might never recover his former glory... until a royal summons gives him the chance to prove that he truly is a master of the game.