Eveleen Hardcastle loves her life on Pear Tree Farm in Lincolnshire with her parents, Mary and Walter. Although the work is hard, the attentions of Stephen Dunsmore - the son of the Hardcastles' employer - provide her with a welcome distraction. But her mother Mary's disapproval of the unsuitable match drives the young lovers to meet in secret. And Eveleen pays a cruel price for deception when her father is found dead from a heart attack. The final blow comes when Stephen callously rejects Eveleen and the Hardcastles are soon forced to leave Lincolnshire. Eveleen resolves never to allow love to enter her heart again - until a stunning discovery about her mother's past causes her to re-evaluate