Sarah Shaw arrives in the fishing port of Whitby alone and almost destitute, fleeing her abusive husband. In desperate need of accommodation and employment, she takes a post as governess in the household of John McMaster, an eminent barrister but a hard and embittered man, whose wife died giving birth to their only son. Little by little, Sarah forms a bond with her young charge, Robin, an invalid who has spent most of his short childhood indoors, in awe of his distant father. She makes friends with a local family, and dares to hope that her new life may bring happiness - even love. But Sarah is to discover, tragically, that it is not so easy to put the past behind her...