When rich, handsome Daniel Penhale proposes to Sophy Beardmore, she is swift to accept. The marriage seems to offer the security and respectability she has always dreamed of in a life overshadowed by her mother''s feckless, radical way of living.

But Daniel''s wealth has not made Kildower, his Cornish house, a happy place. It is haunted by old memories, not least those of his first wife, Meraud. No one seems to know the true facts about her death, though rumours and suspicions abound, fostered by the tragic legends that cling to Kildower.

Daniel''s young daughter, Kensa, is resentful and sullen, her nurse, Jess Southcote, is sly and manipulative, the local people hostile. Then there is Meraud''s brother Conan, who seems determined to strike up a friendship with Sophy, but out of what dubious motives?

Only when Sophy has unravelled the truth about the past and faced up to her true feelings for both Conan and Daniel himself can she find the happiness she seeks.