A young Scottish nobleman enters adulthood amid the decaying comforts of his ancestral house and forms affectionate bonds, including with a dangerous mare, that draw him into local intrigues. He travels to London and to sea, where urban society, legal entanglements, and maritime trials intersect with encounters that suggest supernatural or psychological daemonic forces. Romantic attachments, moral lapses, confessions, and family disputes provoke crises that test his conscience and resolve. The narrative weaves scenes of domestic life, sermons and self-examination, fey visitations, and a final disclosure that compels reconciliation and inward transformation.