- In 18th century England, a young farmer discovers a tangle of past lies and betrayals when his father dies. He is evicted from the farm he thought was his and turned away from the woman he loves. While seeing her secretly he becomes a highwayman and robs those who betrayed his family.—Darlene Cypser
- The Highwayman is the story of Will Stiles, the son of a farmer in 18th century England. Will is a dreamer. He spends long days working on the farm with his father but in his little free time he reads his father's old books, books of poetry and adventure. He dreams of knights, pirates and damsels in distress.... He tries his hand at poetry and performs his poems at the local inn to entertain his neighbors and the love of his life, Bess, the landlord's daughter. Bess' father also has dreams, dreams of marrying his daughter to someone rich and powerful, and doubts about Will's character and family. For there are many things about Will's family that Will himself doesn't know. The night before Will's father, Henry Stiles, dies he tells Will about Will's grandfather Sir Malcolm Stiles, a baronet who was falsely convicted of murder and hanged. Will learns that he comes from a family of tainted nobility, and even the farm they live on does not belong to them but reverts to Lord Shafton on Henry's death. Evicted from the farm, kept away from Bess by her father, Will begins to live a double life, working at a neighbor's farm during the day and robbing those who conspired against his father by night. But the forces that sent his grandfather to the gallows gather once again to hunt down this highwayman in a battle that threatens both Will and Bess. When a troop of soldiers captures Bess to trap the highwayman, she sacrifices herself to warn him and in anger Will rides to his death. Yet rumors persist that the highwayman still rides and mysterious deaths occur until Will has his vengeance and is reunited with Bess.
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