In 1675 a masque was performed at the Court of Charles II at Whitehall. There the young soldier John Churchill, Groom of the Bedchamber to the King's brother, fell in love with a pretty lady-in-waiting, Sarah Jennings.

John and Sarah have married. Lord Shaftesbury has threatened Charles with rebellion. To appease his Protestant Parliament, Charles has arranged a marriage between Mary and the Prince of Orange.

Charles has been forced to send James into exile and to dissolve his factious parliament at Oxford. The Princess Anne has married George, Prince of Denmark, and has chosen Sarah to be one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber.

Monmouth, the hope of the Protestant rebels, was defeated by John Churchill at Sedgemoor.

John Churchill owed much to James II. But the King was clearly determined to destroy the Protestant religion and the laws of England, so John decided to support William of Orange and the Revolution of 1688.

William III, with Churchill's help, has defeated James' attempted invasion of Ireland. John has been suspected of treason and dismissed from Court. Princess Anne has refused to obey her sister Mary and part with Sarah.