North and South

The war has turned against the South. Orry and Charles save George from Libby Prison, kill Turner in a fight, and allow George to return to the North. Madeline helps starving people in Charleston. Returning home, George learns of his brother and sister-in-law's illegal business schemes to use cheap iron to build cannon, and forces Stanley and Isabel to admit guilt. Bent tries to kill Madeline in Charleston, but she is rescued by her gambler friend Rafe, who saves Madeline but is fatally shot by Bent. Bent enlists James Huntoon for help in his plot to overthrow the Confederate government. Although he is still oblivious to Bent's and Ashton's affair, Huntoon acts as a double agent gathering intelligence on the planned coup d'état and reporting the activities to Jefferson Davis. The Confederate President orders Orry to squash the planned revolution. In a final fight, Orry and Huntoon attack Bent's hideout near Richmond. Bent is (apparently) killed when the ammunition he was hiding in a barn explodes. Ashton confesses her affair to James, conspiring to have Billy killed, her past abortion, and tells Orry that she helped Bent drive Madeline away. Orry disowns Ashton and tells Huntoon that he never wants to see his sister again. Ashton begs Huntoon's forgiveness, but he tells her that it is too late.

With the war having come to an end, Orry and Madeline are living in Richmond until Mont Royal can be rebuilt. Elkanah Bent and Ashton Hontoon pay them a visit. She thinks it's to get money out of Orry but Bent has revenge in mind and Orry is killed. Ashton pushes Bent into the river and when he awakens, he can't remember who he is. Madeline relocates to South Carolina intent on rebuilding their former home. With the help of Prudence, she also wants to build a school. George Hazard was unable to attend Orry's funeral but visits Madeline with a business proposition. After his visit, Madeline gets a night time visit by the Ku Klux Klan. Just as he arrives home in Lehigh Station, Pennsylvania George finds that Bent has already been.

With Madeline's school burned to the ground by the Klan, they decide to rebuild. Cooper Main has discovered phosphates on Mont Royal land and with Isobel Hazard as an investor, begins a mining operation. The conditions of work are poor however and the former slaves who work there are forced into another kind of slavery when they are forced to use the company store to buy their supplies and find themselves in perpetual debt. In Pennsylvania, George Hazard is bereft over the loss of Constance and has become obsessed with finding Elkanah Bent and exacting his revenge. He has Pinkerton's men tracking him, but they always seem to be one step behind. It takes a visit from Madeline to save him from himself. Ashton has given up prostitution and is now focusing on her new husband's piano business. She is obsessed with raising enough money to buy Mont Royal. Charlie Main meanwhile refuses to settle down with Willa and continues to roam the West, now as an army scout searching for Scar who killed his friends.

When George Hazard learns that it's his sister-in-law who owns the majority shares in the mining operation at Mont Royal, he turns to his brother Stanley who does the right thing. George returns to Mont Royal with Madeline and as the new owner of the mine, makes things right. His first act is to shut the company store. He and Madeline soon fall in love. When he learns that the mad Elkanah Bent has kidnapped Charlie's young son he sets off to find Charlie. Together, they track Bent down for a final confrontation. Back in South Carolina, George and Madeline prepare for an attack from the Klan. Ashton returns to find what remains of her beloved Mont Royal.