Publisher's Synopsis
It is autumn, 1863, in rural Kent. Cecily Carpenter, at only fourteen, has been sent into service as the housemaid of the local rectory, and is distraught as she faces the loss of her long-held dream of becoming a teacher. Alfred Nicholson, though ten years older, also struggles to come to terms with the path set down for him by fate and family. He is a gentle, musical man, who has become the reluctant heir of a small building business. Only his love for Emma Fielding, the local schoolteacher, gives him hope that his life has meaning and purpose.