The Weaver's Dream

When the truth of Francis Pagnel's illegitimate birth was revealed, Jeremiah's wife Isabella had forbidden him ever to enter her house again, for she would brook no rival for her own son's inheritance of the Pagnel carpet weaving business. So Francis set about building up his own carpet business in London with his brother-in-law Tom Himley. When Isabella dies Francis and his young wife Rebecca return to Kidderminster. On the surface their home town seems not much changed, but there is much unrest and simmering bitterness -- the poverty of the weavers has increased with a slump in trade and secret societies and unions are being formed. Francis and Rebecca, with their dream of a co-operative weaving business, are torn between family duty to Jeremiah and the Pagnel business and sympathy for the lot of the weavers. When the manufacturers reduce wages, the weavers can take no more and the subsequent strike turns into riots that can only end in tragedy.