This story is only that -- a story -- based on the history of Maryland's Eastern Shore. It is not meant to be an accurate depiction of historical characters, yet some of the people you will meet were real people, members of two families who came from very different backgrounds to settle in seventeenth century Maryland. Generation after generation, they married and produced Marylanders who were an intimate part of the politics and society of their county, their state, and their country. Although many of their actual achievements and many of the famous people who moved in their circles have become part of the story, other fictional events, characters, and relationships have been interwoven.