When Katie Waren's mother dies in childbirth Katie is forced to abandon her dreams of working as a pupil-teacher. Instead, she goes into service at the big house with her sister, Fanny. Soon, and against her will, she finds herself growing fond of the shy but kind son of the house, George Trevarnon. But, the intervention of George's unscrupulous brother leads to the sisters' dismissal, and Katie and George are separated-Katie to struggle for a living in the alien city of Truro, George, to bury his emotions in the dangers and devastations of the Boer War. When the two meet again, each is married to another, but fate contrives to bring them together again-in the deceptive peace of an Edwardian summer..