Lily Thorpeis spirited, ambitious and desperate to escape the poverty of her Lake District home, and marry her secret sweetheartDick Rawlins. But tragedy strikes and Dick is killed in a boating accident caused by the wealthy and arrogant Clermont-Read family. Lily is forced to reassess her future, and she embarks on a quest for revenge and marries Bertie Clermont-Read.
The young couple are rejected by his family and suffer the same poverty Lily had tried to escape. Lily starts a passionate affair with local steam boat captainNathan Monroe and when she is threatened with vengeance she must decide who is more important - her husband or her lover.
