Gerard Roylake, living in emotional estrangement after his father’s remarriage, wanders through the woods and along the river where he meets Cristel Toller, the miller’s daughter, and grows attached to her, only to face the hostility of a deaf lodger who seems determined to keep them apart. The river recurs as a powerful symbol of buried guilt and troubled memory while Gerard struggles between family pride, social expectation, and personal desire. Silence, rumor, and misunderstanding gradually intensify the tension, turning minor conflicts into signs of approaching tragedy. The novel traces the interplay of love, jealousy, responsibility, and moral choice, revealing how the hidden current of a river can mirror the hidden currents of the human heart.
