Eighteen years old, Madeleine Bates spent her time either at chapel or working a 14-hour day as housemaid at Mount Royd, the aflluent Parkinson family home. But Madeleine was not the kind of young woman you could overlook, and when Leon Bonneau came to stay at Mount Royd he was, against his own inclinations, startled into noticing the dignity and beauty of the young housemaid. From that moment on the lives of everyone at Mount Royd began to change, and Madeleine stepped forward into a new and challenging future.