Dell Book, 1983, book club edition, 411 pages In 1767, Charles Town, capital of the Carolina colony, is a sophisticated city whose wealthy citizens are steadfastly loyal to the Crown. The Mannings are such a family-but their younger son, Drew, is caught between this tradition of luxury and privilege, and his neighbors in the rough Upcountry, where he owns land. They are men, who like him, have fought Indians and bandits for their lands and, now, increasingly bitter against British rule, are planning rebellion. Just as his mind is divided between family and friends, loyalty and liberty, Drew's heart is torn between two women: Joanna, the Charles Town heiress to whom he is engaged, and Laurel, the humble country girl who bears him a son. But it is a third woman, one who has secretly loved him since childhood, who will defy family and society to prove that her free spirit matches his own.