In the gilded age of Edwardian England, when wealth and title were the measures of a man, John Darlington, Seventh Earl of Westhaven, schemes to marry a Wainwright heiress. His ancestral home is near bankruptcy because of death duties and only marriage to wealth will save him.

The issue of a first marriage, the child shuttled off to boarding school and forgotten, Helen Wainwright is a modern woman who supports herself by teaching school. Upon her father's death, Helen returns home to discover her family in turmoil over the earl's arrival as they seek position and security for her stepsisters.

John must convince Helen that the past is worth preserving and Helen must let go of a past that has rejected her. As the Empire prepares for the coronation of a new monarch, they both learn that life's greatest gifts are the ones that bring you home.