The O'Donovans' affluent lifestyle is mostly unaffected by simmering tensions for Home Rule in Ireland. Change intrudes upon their lives when Grace O'Donovan welcomes her older sister, Deirdre, home from her year abroad. Grace expects to find her sister worldlier, more sophisticated after her sojourn in Europe. Instead, Deirdre is moody and listless. Unbeknownst to Grace, Deirdre is concealing a well-guarded secret. When their childhood friend and neighbor Cecil Sloane discovers Deirdre's hidden past, he demands her hand in marriage in return for his silence. A price so dear it shakes the O'Donovan family to its core, tests Grace's courage and loyalty.