Scarlett Penrose has a secret. Even those who know her well have not the slightest idea of it. Not Ruth her best friend or Ruth's handsome brother Jack, who becomes the love of Scarlett 's life.

Scarlett knows that the horror of what happened at Sennen Cove, when she was only a child, would most surely be repeated here in West Looe if the secret was discovered. She lives in fear that her despicable father or the hateful Riding Officer, Robert Reader, who she loathes, could lead to the secret being exposed. This would destroy her life and ruin any future she has with Jack Jago.

Employed by two strange sisters who live in 'Prospect House' situated on the quay in West Looe, she also worries for her mother left at 'Tamarisk' but with her father ever more absent she finds some peace of mind.

Then by chance, Scarlett pulls a half-drowned woman from the river when the old vessel she was aboard capsizes, and this fateful meeting brings Scarlett 's past frighteningly close to being revealed.

It is a tale oozing with adventure and passion set amongst the creeks and coves, the tiny villages and the grand halls, the 'free traders' and the hated revenue officers of Cornwall. Can Layunie and Jarren's love survive their many setbacks, and can they ever be truly together? What will the effect of a mysterious package brought to the great house by a stranger up the misty river Fal have on the present occupant of Trevoran Court?