Annie Fullerton is only a housemaid, but when her master's pampered daughter needs help, it's Annie she turns to. Emily is going to have a baby, and in Victorian Perthsire there is no worse disgrace for an unmarried girl. The two girls go into hiding in a charming Kincardineshire village and before long, Emily decides to defy her father and keep her child. Annie is delighted: she vividly remembers the pain of life in an orphanage. But it is not to be. In the end, it is Annie who takes baby Tina and gives her a home. Annie loves Tina and is happy to give up her chances to have children of her own for the adorble little girl. But babies grow up, and all too soon Tina is a young woman as pretty and determined as the mother she never knew. For Annie the time is coming for a decision that could break her heart.