The Lady and the Highwayman

The Lady and the Highwayman is a 1989 United Kingdom TV movie based on Barbara Cartlands romance novel Cupid Rides Pillion. The working title of the film was Dangerous Love.

The film begins with a narrator telling us that Cromwells tyranny is coming to an end, when we see several men approaching on horseback. We learn that King Charles II and several of his Cavaliers have been on an exploratory tour in England, checking to see if the populace is ready to back his return. At the moment he is being hounded by a troop of Roundheads. King Charles stops to bid one of his supporters, a Royalist Lord Lucius Vyne Hugh Grant who he gives one of his favorite rings, telling Lucius to send it if he ever needs his help. Taking the ring Lucius borrows the Kings distinctive plumed hat and leads the Kings pursuers away, allowing Charles and Lucius cousin, Lord Richard Vyne to reach a waiting boat bound for France. Lucius manages to lose the Roundheads in a cavernous entrance of a quarried chalk cliff face.In the next scene Lady Panthea Vyne Lysette Anthony is tricked into marriage by a lecherous older tax collector Drysdale Ian Bannen who had been seeking her hand in marriage. He promises to intercede and save her brother Lord Richard who, he tells her, is about to be executed. Drysdale tells her he can save her brother if she agrees to marry him. Leaving the church she and her new husband, no sooner reach their waiting coach that he attempts to unbutton her dress. Her small Cavalier King Charles Spaniel barks at Drysdale, who throws it to the floor of the coach and stomps it to death. Just then a gun ball blows a chunk of wood from the coach beside Drysdales head. The mysterious masked highwayman known as Silver Blade secretly her cousin Lucius puts a stop to Drysdales advances and helps our heroine to bury her dog. She tells Silver Blade of her plight he whispers that Drysdale has lied, telling her that her brother is already dead. ........

Source: Wikipedia