It's a late, stormy winter night when Frederick comes to the farmhouse door. Rose, a young midwife, is inside, caring for the newborn she'd just helped bring into the world. Frederick seeks her help with another pregnant woman who's in labor, but he has another mission too: convince Rose to marry him though she'd rejected him three years earlier.

Rose, still in love with Frederick but likewise determined to give up that love in order to go to medical school in Missouri, is worried about the woman and agrees to go with him. While traveling, the storm rages and they lose their way, but it isn't until they face a desperate vagrant that the two discover sacrifice may be the only key that can open what's hidden in their hearts.