Young Dolly Dixon is determined to overcome her illegitimate background and lead a respectable life, attending evening classes in an attempt to better herself. But when her mother runs off with a lover, she is forced to leave her office job to look after her unappreciative stepfamily. Her life of drudgery is brightened by her love for handsome market trader Tom Marchant. It is not just his good looks and devastating smile that have won her heart. He is ambitious too and longs to escape his youthful involvement with the criminal Rose brothers. Dolly believes him and at the start of World War II they get married and leave London to open a shop in a Sussex village. But have they really seen the last of the brothers? And what is the other secret that Tom is hiding.