In a London ravaged by the Great Fire, Christopher Redmayne envisages the rebuilding of the city. He is thrown together with Jonathan Bale, a decidedly Puritan constable, when one of his clients is killed, leading the pair on a journey through the dark underbelly of London and the hedonistic Court. Meeting in the ashes, Christopher Redmayne, an architect with Cavalier instincts, and Jonathan Bale are hardly kindred spirits. Redmayne dedicates himself to rebuilding the city that Bale believes was destroyed by its own inner corruption. The two men are thrown together when they catch thieves who are stealing from the house that Redmayne has designed for Sir Ambrose Northcott. The foul murder of Sir Ambrose joins them again, albeit reluctantly, in a complex and perilous investigation that takes them through the brothels and gaming houses of London, across to Paris, and back again to the hedonistic Court.