An extremely valuable hoard of gold and silver coins and religious treasure is dug up in the ancient East Midlands village of Harpole, Northamptonshire on property now owned by a female Shell Oil Company lawyer. No coin is dated later than King Edward the Confessor's reign (1042-1066). News reports go worldwide. A direct patrilineal descendant of the Saxon village owner, an American, makes claim to the hoard. Unwilling to allow such a large amount of treasure to be exported from the United Kingdom, particularly after Brexit, the British Crown in retaliation files a claim to the hoard on the ground that William the Conqueror validly confiscated the entire village after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England file claims to the religious objects in the hoard. Litigation ensues. Notwithstanding the drama surrounding them, the female landowner and the American gradually find themselves falling in love - due to shared interests - despite their conflicting interests in the hoard.