A Victorian saga. Eighteen years old Lily is spoilt by her father. She spurns the love of Charlie, a twenty one years old shipyard worker, as a courtship from a boy with his lowly background will never do. Lily has her heart set on marrying her cousin, Lawrence Patterson, a sea captain whom Lily has fallen in love. But Lawrence marries Bertha, Lily's older sister and Lily unable to have her heart's desire, marries Roland, an Army officer, instead. Charlie is bereft when his beloved marries another and finds himself burdened with Mary, a wife who can be cruel and manipulative, causing him to up sticks and make a new life for himself elsewhere. In 1903 both have been widowed, so will fate bring Lily and Charlie back together? Only time will tell.