Spring 1832: While working as a gravekeeper with his grandfather, Ned's gentle life is disrupted when graves are disturbed and a young woman, Obedience Wellrest (Bede), starts lurking around the cemetery. Bede lives with her father in the crumbling manor nearby. Fascinated by the research of her disgraced ancestor, Herbert, she wishes to dedicate her life to science. Unfortunately, her father is determined for her to marry charming Phineas - she'll do anything to avoid the match. A mystery of science and magic unravels, where no-one is quite as they seem...