York 1886. Sarah-Lou has just left school and is ready for adventure! A position in the city sounds perfect, but working all hours for the haughty Ackroyds leaves little time for fun, and when their troubled son, Gideon, shows too much interest in the junior maid, her days at the Big House are numbered. Sarah-Lou sees a bright future training as a nurse - but her dreams are shattered again. A little girl needs her and the streets of York are no place to bring up a child, so there is only one place to go - the Yorkshire village Sarah-Lou was so eager to leave behind...