When Kate Swan's overbearing father demands that she obey him by marrying a man she despises she refuses & is cast out of her comfortable home in Whitby. Fortunately a kindly local widow is looking for a lady companion & for the moment Kate's future is assured. Meanwhile in Shetland Malcolm Mc Fadden heir to the Garstan Estate disagrees with his father's plan to clear the crofters from his land & turn it over to sheep. The fate of one crofter's daughter in particular greatly troubles him & he proposes to defy convention by marrying Rowena Murray but she hesitates & Malcolm leaves Shetland on his own. When he & Kate meet they are instantly attracted to one other but while Kate fulfills one last obligation to her generous employer Mrs Jordan
- accompanying her on a Lakeland tour
- Malcolm receives the news he has long dreaded. The Highland Clearances have begun & old loyalties draw Malcolm back to Shetland where he vanishes without trace. Will Kate's love & determination win through enabling her to discover what has become of Malcolm? Or will his old ties to Rowena his first love prove too strong & cause Kate to regret the road she has travelled?