Year is 1790, on the storm-swept Devon cliffs in England. Lord Thomas Eden, a dilettante who amused himself with illegal dealings, now sets his eye on a beautiful serving girl, Marianne Locke. She is a fisherman's daughter and refuses the advances of the most powerful man in the region. Lord Eden is obsessed with her but Marianne sees all his torment but she cannot forgive what the man has done, she cannot forget the man. . .