A soldier returns to keep a promise—but it will prove more difficult than he imagined.

Lieutenant Jonathan Lewis is devastated when his best friend, Fred, is fatally injured on the battlefield. He willingly promises to take care of Fred's sister and mother—after all, he has been quietly in love with Fred's sister, Meg, for years.

After a gruelling retreat across Spain, Jon finally returns to find England in the grip of a snowy winter. Thoughts of Meg have kept him going, but when he reaches her home, it is not Meg who meets him at the door but her cousin Rupert. Jon is devastated to learn that Rupert and Meg are to be wed in two days' time.

Despite Rupert's efforts to keep them apart, Jon manages to talk to Meg, who does not want to marry her cousin. Meg suggests that she would be safe from Rupert's threats if she married Jon instead.

Without hesitation, Jon sets off through the icy conditions and deep snow to get a marriage licence before Rupert can force Meg to marry him. But does Meg only want him for her safety, or could she love him, too? And can he make it back in time?