In late-18th-century London, Wiliam Samuel Ireland and his son, Wiliam Henry Ireland, stand accused of presenting forged Shakespeare documents as authentic. Samuel desperately insists on their innocence, while the timid Henry remains silent.

The story returns to a journey they took to Stratford-upon-Avon after Henry was expelled from school for having “too much imagination.” At Shakespeare’s birthplace, a mysterious man known only as H gives Henry a book of sonnets containing a loose blank page. Henry writes out Sonnet 130 in imitation of Shakespeare’s handwriting and later tells his father that it is an original document received from H.

Samuel, a failed writer who has never recognized his son’s talent, is fascinated by the discovery. Eager for his father’s approval, Henry produces more supposed Shakespeare documents, including letters, legal records, and royal correspondence. Samuel gains fame as the descendant of a man who allegedly saved Shakespeare’s life and inherited the papers.

When doubts emerge, a swindler claiming to be H appears with additional documents that Samuel accepts as proof. Henry, increasingly frightened by the deception, writes an original play titled Vortigern and Rowena to demonstrate his own ability. Samuel instead announces it as a newly discovered Shakespeare play.

In court, the judge dismisses the case, declaring the manuscripts too beautiful to merit further dispute. Henry nevertheless confesses that he created them all. Father and son are acquitted of fraud, but Henry is punished for contempt of court and ordered to leave the country.

Samuel continues profiting from the collection even as evidence of forgery accumulates. Henry disappears from public view, possibly living in rural France, where he may finally begin writing under his own name.