As a small child Nellie Peace was always dreaming but sensed her mother’s rejection. Abandoned and sent into service at Beaumont House at an early age Nellie is lost and alone until she meets the unpredictable and reclusive artist Lucas Harrington and falls in love with him. This unlikely association between master and servant is encouraged by Lucas’s gentle natured Aunt Alice as Lucas sees something unusual in Nellie and is compelled to paint her. Broken promises lead to inevitable heartbreak and Nellie flees Beaumont House in disgrace for London. Alone again Nellie must learn to live and fend for herself and her new-born child. Can Nellie win a second chance of happiness and can she solve the mystery of her mother's tortured past?