In the midst of her dedicated service to the war effort, Judith chances upon a caring friend from Nancherrow. What would seem to be an act of wartime comfort awakens feelings unbeknownst to her. But a cruel twist of fate causes Judith to believe she has once again found only friendship, rather than love.

With her family in Singapore, 14-year-old Judith Dunbar is left with the loneliness of life in an English boarding school. At St. Ursula's Judith makes a lifelong friend in the devil-may-care Loveday Carey-Lewis, who invites her home for the weekend. One glimpse at Nancherrow and the entire Carey-Lewis family, and it is love at first site.