When Suzanna Dirkston, daughter of wealthy shipping tycoon Leopald Dirkston, learns that her father is dead, she knows it was not an accident. Forced to return to the family estate, Beacon, Suzanna is quick to sense the air of mystery and intrigue that hangs over the house and its inhabitants.

Her shock grows when she learns that her father--true to form--is still trying to manipulate her life even from the grave. His will stipulates that she must marry Grant Fenton, a man Leo rescued as a child from poverty and groomed to replace him at Dirkston Shipping. If she does not accede to the conditions of the will, she and her extended family will be left penniless.