Hephzibah Wildman’s circumstances are dramatically changed when both her parents are killed in a tragic accident in 1900. Homeless and penniless, she must leave the haven of the Oxford college where she’s lived all her life and earn her own living. Accepting a job as a governess in a large country house, Ingleton Hall, Hephzibah gradually begins to rebuild her life, helped by her friendship with the bookish parson Merritt Nightingale, one of her father’s former students. Immediately drawn to the handsome but elusive Thomas Egdon, she attracts the unwanted attentions of his father, her employer, Sir Richard Egdon, the squire of Ingelton Hall. Who is the mysterious woman who steals the green velvet ribbons from Hephzibah’s bedroom in the middle of the night? And what is her relationship with the Egdon family? An impulsive decision by Hephzibah unleashes a chain of events that lead to tragic consequences.