One man ...Mariah Bowes' father, Ezekiel, is a respectable iron master, but unbeknown to her he has a past he wants to hide. He's determined that no one will ever discover the terrible secret he has worked so hard to conceal. One lie ...The son of a coal miner, Daniel Thorpe is determined to better himself and, now he's got a job as supervisor at Bowes ironworks, he's succeeded. But his affair with the beautiful Lily has devastating consequences for Mariah. One woman's life destroyed ...After the death of her mother, Mariah's father tells her that she must marry a man forty years her senior; she can think of nothing worse and decides instead to leave, giving up the life she has known. But, alone and penniless, Mariah is at the mercy of worse fates and soon must draw on all her strength and courage if she is to survive.