Publisher's Synopsis
Young Katie Benfield achieves her goal of becoming a probationer nurse at the South-East Durham Hospital, even though she has to put off marrying her childhood sweetheart Billy to complete her training. Then tragedy strikes and Billy and her grandfather are killed in a mining accident. Shocked and distraught, Katie is vulnerable to the advances of the local ironmaster, Matthew Hamilton. Shunned, isolated and pregnant, Katie's future is uncertain, until Matthew Hamilton offers her an alternative to the home for unmarried mothers - but only if she forgoes her principles and becomes his mistress.
