1660 England. General Edward Whalley and his son-in law, Colonel William Goffe, board a ship bound for the New World. They are on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I --- a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control. But now, 10 years after Charles’ beheading, the royalists have returned to power. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, the 59 men who signed the king’s death warrant and participated in his execution have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. Some of the Roundheads, including Oliver Cromwell, are already dead. Others have been captured, hung, drawn and quartered. A few are imprisoned for life. But two have escaped to America by boat.