Smoke in the Valley

It is during the eighteen-fifties and the building of the new railways is in full swing. Malcolm Brent, a dashing, forceful young railway engineer, who is taking a new line through the West-country, has come up aginst the opposition of Sir Henry Vesey, Bart, a country landowner who refuses any encroachment on his lands or priviledges. Malcolm's arguments and a generous offer of stock in the newcompany having failed to convince him, Malcolm is obliged to seek other methods. Sir Henry has two daughters: Sophie, demure and mouselike and Elaine, the elder, pretty, vain and spoilt. Elaine has a talent for always getting her own way with her father, and a talent also for attracting beaux - all of whom bore her after a time. Her interest is immediately aroused therefore when Sophie, returning from a stay with her aunt, produces an intriguing vanity case - including the forbidden rouge - and says it is a present for Elaine from Malcolm Brent. It is an undisguised bribe as Malcolm hopes that Elaine will be able to change her father's mind: but Elaine, fascinated by Brent's charming manner and handsome looks, decides he is the sort of husband she is looking for and take up the offer.