Joseph Miller is a proud man, so when his daughter, Sarah, becomes lady's maid to Lady Caroline up at Abeyford Grange, he is very resentful - just at the time when local landowners are planning to destroy the last vestiges of villagers' independence by enclosure of the common land. And when Sarah falls in love with the squire's son it seems that their romance can only end in a tragedy which will destroy the Miller family. Meanwhile, Lady Caroline's wilful nature leads her into a clandestine romance with gentle Thomas Cole. Nothing and no one must stand in her way, not even Lynwood, the fourteen-year-old boy who loves her devotedly. But, like Sarah, will she bow to the pressures of family and friends, or will she take what she wants, regardless of the consequences?