All for the Overture

English countryside, 1820. Unsuccessful merchant Ambrose Cross becomes the unwitting guardian of Basil, an abandoned boy who has the brook, the dawn, and his guitar for his closest companions. The two find themselves in the primeval town of Aveline—a place paradoxically lascivious—just as aspiring scholar Wilona Chaplain is faced with her impending betrothal. When a gruesome murder befalls one of Aveline’s citizens, Cross finds himself mending the damage rather than being on his way. The murder’s fallout begins to rouse in him long–suppressed memories of religious torment and forbidden romance, convincing him that his past is being replayed before his eyes. Within Aveline’s increasing tumult, Wilona refuses to acquiesce to her betrothed, Basil yearns for the comforts he left behind, and Cross can only see his acquaintances as players on a fractured stage.