Beautiful Rachel Kivell can't wait to leave the Cornish mining town of Meryen and its dark secrets behind to elope with her married lover. But gentle Doctor Lockley is not all he seems, and when he unexpectedly leaves the village - taking his wife with him - Rachel's heart is broken. But there's no time for brooding, because Rachel finds herself suddenly responsible for the loving but childlike Eva Bowden, whose family have suffered a terrible tragedy. Unable to care for the unfortunate soul herself, she entrusts her to villager Irene Retallack, whose son Flint is less than pleased that a haughty Kivell should pass her responsibilities on to his poor family...Meanwhile, Squire Nankervis and his wife are finally expecting their first child, but the arrival of Adelaide's bankrupt cousin, Lady Helen Churchfield, proves too much, and the squire casts her from his house. When the carriage she was travelling in is found overturned, with no sign of the lady, the village pull together to find her. And when they finally do, bloodied and near death, it seems this was no accident...