Covington Cross

- Season 1

(1992)

King Edward asks Sir Thomas Grey to hear John Mullens' proposition for ending the enmity between their families. Baron Mullens proposes an arranged marriage between his eldest son, Henry of Gault, and Sir Thomas' beautiful teenage daughter, Eleanor, which Thomas reluctantly agrees to. When Eleanor flees Covington Cross rather than submit to such a union, Sir Thomas asks his rival's forgiveness and offers a valuable piece of property in recompense, but Mullens demands a trial by combat to wipe away the blot on his family's honor.

Armus, Sir Thomas' eldest son, returns home after eight years of fighting in the Crusades. He joins the family on their annual reluctant journey to pay the king's taxes to the Duke of Arondale. When a gang of brigands invades the duke's castle, help themselves to the proceeds and take hostages to assure their escape, Armus must prove his mettle by helping Richard and Eleanor defeat the outlaws before they can harm their neighbors and family.

Richard and Eleanor rescue John Mullens and the bishop from a swaggering highwayman and lock him in the Grey's castle dungeon, but Eleanor soon falls under the thrall of the Irishman's charming blarney and helps him escape. Meanwhile Cedric prepares for a tournament for young would-be knights having promised Sir Thomas that, if he loses, he will join a monastery in Scotland.

Sir Thomas' attempts to negotiate a lumber contract to build the king's ships with Duke of Worringer hit a snag when a lover's spat with Lady Elizabeth causes her to seek a business as well. Cedric's trip to buy a neighbor's lumber to sweetened the deal is derailed when he is beaten and robbed in an inn and the outlaw uses his identity while committing highway robbery. Meanwhile, Eleanor must fend off the unwanted advances of the Duke's young son.

Reluctant to return home to meet Lady Elizabeth's mono-syllabic speaking children, Armus, Richard and Eleanor journey to Arondel to prevent an assassination attempt on the king at the behest of a notorious liar of Armus' acquaintance. Meanwhile, Cedric recovers from a snake bite in a convent full of nubile young women who are anxious to be taught about worldly pleasures.

Baron Mullens' plot to kidnap Eleanor Grey is foiled by an unlikely rescuer - an apprentice blacksmith called Lucas who dreams of becoming a knight. Sir Thomas' widowed sister-in-law visits Covington Cross and the family patriarch is so struck by her likeness to his late wife that he becomes smitten - much to the disgust of Lady Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Mullens and his henchmen plot to kidnap Eleanor during the harvest festival.

Richard Grey rescues Rachel, a beautiful young woman, from a vengeful mob and brings her home to Covington Cross. Soon after her arrival an unusual death, violent storms and other unusual occurrences plague the castle. When Armus becomes deathly ill, the local abbot accuses the Grey's guest of witchcraft.

Baron Mullens manages to steal the deed to Sir Thomas' land from the royal archives and forges changes to the document that cause Grey's to evicted from their castle in favor of a French actor posing as the legitimate owner of the property. While the Grey children are force to live as peasants and learn first hand how the poor live, Thomas and Lady Elizabeth, aided by Baron Mullens' daughter, Alexandra, find clues that show their eviction was part of a sinister plot against the Grey family.

When a noblewoman is murdered within his jurisdiction Thomas Grey is called to render judgment upon the accused villager. As the evidence is presented at the man's trial, Sir Thomas begins to suspect the wrong man has been arrested - and the real guilty party is a nobleman critical to the defense of the realm against the marauding Scots.

Baron Mullens' solution for combating the plague is to destroy the homes of those who contracted the disease and kill anyone who came in contact with those afflicted. While poaching on Mullens land, Cedric Grey stumbles upon a young woman and three children who have managed to escape Mullens' scorched earth medical treatment and helps them escape to Covington Cross. When his father denies the peasants sanctuary, Cedric determines to help them find refuge in a Carmelite monastery, but to reach it, they must cross the baron's land again, placing the small group in ...

Armus and Richard rescue a Saracen from a gang of toughs not realizing that the Middle Easterner is in England to avenge the death of his brother, who was killed by Armus during the Crusades. Meanwhile, a series of misdelivered letters causes confusion amongst three suitors and their would-be lovers in the scullery.

While drinking in the local tavern with his brothers and sister, Armus has his purse stolen. He captures the thief and discovers the pickpocket is a little girl who lives with an old woodcutter. The Greys take a liking to the child and the woodsman and invite them to their castle for Christmas even though though they must travel with Sir Thomas his investiture as a Knight of the Garter. Meanwhile Sir Ivar seeks the assistance of Baron Mullens in the search for their missing ward.

After Sir Thomas Grey's attempt to negotiate a timber contract with his former friend, Lord Wyatt, results in swordplay, Richard tries to settle the business deal and falls for his lordship's daughter, Charlotte, not realizing his brother Armus has been smitten by the lady himself. Meanwhile, Lady Elizabeth tries to tutor tomboy Eleanor Grey in the fine art of behaving like a lady.