Tilly Masters loves her work as assistant blacksmith to her father despite the disapproval of her aunt who has ambitions for her beyond their little Sussex village. When Ben Masters takes on an apprentice Tilly is upset, thinking Nathan will take over. As they work alongside each other, she gradually falls in love with him and is devastated when he joins the Army and is sent to France to care for the horses on the Western Front.

When her father dies and she gets the dreadful news that Nathan is missing, Tilly goes to live with her aunt where she is pursued by the local squire's son. Will she succumb to his advances or will she continue to cling to the hope that Nathan will return from the war?