When Jerusalem is captured by the Muslims in A.D. 1187, Elfreda, a young Saxon orphan, is sent back to England to her mother's sister. Her proud aunt, Lady de Valery, is not at all pleased to see her, and her uncle, Sir Valence, fears that she may have brought the family curse back to England. This hundred-year-old curse is said to have been placed on an ancestor named Leofwine, and more than one family member has tried in vain to remove it. Meeting her cousin, Guy, for a few moments as he prepares to join King Richard's Crusade to free Jerusalem, Elfreda tells him of her father's battle cry, "Christ and His salvation." Something in this cry thrills Guy's heart even though he doesn't understand the meaning of the words. Soon after this, Lady de Valery sends Elfreda off to live with relatives in London. There Elfreda and Guy meet again and Guy promises Elfreda that he will win such honor as a crusader that he will be able to remove the curse from their family. Elfreda, too, tries to remove the curse through a life of religious devotion. Over the years that follow, however, severe trials befall the de Valery family, and Guy and Elfreda despair of ever being able to lift the curse, until at last they both learn of One who has power stronger than any curse.

Humiliated by his father in front of their household, Leofwine's only crime is that, unlike his wild, younger brother, he finds no pleasure in terrorizing the countryside. Leofwine finally receives permission to enter a monastery but shortly after his dream is fulfilled, he hears strange rumors of a French monk who preaches "heresy." Unable to stop thinking about these new ideas, Leofwine and his fellow monks become convinced that he must be under the spell of a witch. At last, Leofwine determines to leave the monastery and England, hoping that in the holy life of a pilgrim he will find freedom from the curse that he feels he is under. His search for inner peace takes him to France and to Rome and finally to Jerusalem, but all of his travels leave him more confused than ever, and worse yet, he uncovers a plot against his native England. Now Leofwine must find a way to help his beloved country and also decide what to believe about the surprising ideas he has heard in a small village in the Alps.

Humiliated by his father in front of their household, Leofwine's only crime is that, unlike his wild, younger brother, he finds no pleasure in terrorizing the countryside. Leofwine finally receives permission to enter a monastery but shortly after his dream is fulfilled, he hears strange rumors of a French monk who preaches "heresy." Unable to stop thinking about these new ideas, Leofwine and his fellow monks become convinced that he must be under the spell of a witch. At last, Leofwine determines to leave the monastery and England, hoping that in the holy life of a pilgrim he will find freedom from the curse that he feels he is under. His search for inner peace takes him to France and to Rome and finally to Jerusalem, but all of his travels leave him more confused than ever, and worse yet, he uncovers a plot against his native England. Now Leofwine must find a way to help his beloved country and also decide what to believe about the surprising ideas he has heard in a small village in the Alps.