Sep McGilby always said that Emily Kennedy had a happy face. And at 16, Emily had a lot to be glad about. She loved working as maid-of-all-work for the McGilbys, the only cloud on her horizon was her anxiety about her delicate younger sister, Lucy. But when Mrs McGilby dies, and Sep is killed in an accident soon after, Emily and Lucy must leave South Shields to look for work, which they find at Croft Dene House. The household of Croft Dene, where Lawrence Birch ruled as master, was a strange one, and as Emily became more deeply involved with the family's affairs, she grew rapidly to a young woman, needing all her strength of will and character to survive. And whatever else happened, she clung to a scrap of philosophy that carried her through the bitter struggles of her new life.