Angelica Fanshawe strives to protect her daughter and Catholic husband from chaos in England, while in New England the colonists struggle to throw off the control of the English Crown.

In Massachusetts, Ned is dispatched to England by his father John Hawkins, and asks him to give Hope a letter in return. However, John destroys it and insists Hope marry recent widower Henry Cresswell. Back in Oxfordshire, Abe and Beth blow up the clay pits where landowner George Hardwick is forcing men, women and children to work in terrible conditions, and Abe later attempts to assassinate the king. Meanwhile, Judge Jeffreys puts pressure on Will Blood to produce evidence against Angelica and her husband John Francis.