For Valentine Windham music is what distinguishes him and expresses his soul. So when pain in his hands makes it impossible to play the piano, Val retreats to the country to hide his disability and lose himself in restoring a tumbledown estate.

Ellen Markham has secret griefs of her own, but she gradually comes to admit her attraction to the handsome stranger on the neighboring estate--having no idea he's the son of a duke and a formidable musical talent. These two lonely souls begin to find comfort in each other, discovering hidden depths of passion.