Young upper-class fellow Edward arrives with his friend Cedric at the family manse, Ivory Hall. He plans to pair off Cedric with his sister Emily. Emily, on the other hand, falls in love with a son of local peasant, George. Old Aunt Agnes sends all the bunch off, first to Italy and then to India, so Emily would forget George, who is an undesirable partner for her because of class differences, and choose Cedric.

In mid-19th century Yorkshire, Hannah Boyle is left with the family of Matthew Thornton, the man her dying mother claims fathered her...