When Owen Morgan, a destitute orphan, is taken in by his uncle Ellis Darrow, his future seems secure. Welcomed unreservedly by his aunt and three cousins, he finds himself drawn towards his eldest cousin, Jane. As they grow up, the two cousins plan to marry. But when the wedding is only a few weeks away, Owen succumbs to the attractions of another woman. Banished by his uncle and forced to return to his native South Wales, Owen begins to realise that a woman worth loving is not easily won, and faces up to the fact that he can only redeem himself in a baptism of fire and blood.