Hilary Vane moves to northern England with her brother, a doctor, who has bought a local practice. Hilary hopes to set up a school for young ladies as well. But her plans are stymied at first by the autocratic Duke of Alverly who disapproves of this idea. Slowly, with the help of the duke's spirited younger sister, Hilary is able to get him to change his mind. A murder and other events then bring her into even closer contact with the duke, with suddenly also the possibility of romance.