At eighteen, Kate Stacey accepts a post as nanny to Lady Helen Sherwood’s daughters, and falls passionately in love with Lady Helen’s brother, David. When the liaison is discovered, David is recalled to his father’s industrial empire in the Welsh valleys, and Kate is dismissed.

Following her heart to Wales, Kate is horrified by the squalid poverty on which the Owen fortune is built. Her sympathies lying with the increasingly rebellious workers, she finds herself dangerously caught up in the Chartist Movement.

Meeting David again, Kate finds their love still endures. But is David strong enough to defy his autocratic father - and can Kate contemplate a future living on the proceeds of human misery?