Rachel Ray lives at Bragg’s End in Devon with her widowed mother and her stern Evangelical sister Dorothea Prime when she meets Luke Rowan, a young man who has come to Baslehurst to assert his interest in the local brewery, and as Rachel and Luke become increasingly attracted to each other Dorothea distrusts his religious character and intentions while the hesitant Mrs. Ray seeks advice from Mr. Comfort before finally allowing Rachel to attend Mrs. Tappitt’s ball, where the growing affection between the young couple becomes unmistakable, and Luke openly pursues Rachel while also challenging Mr. Tappitt over the management and future of the brewery, creating hostility with the Tappitt family, whose mother would have preferred him to marry one of her own daughters, yet he returns to Bragg’s End and makes clear that his interest in Rachel is serious while Rachel gradually admits to herself that she truly loves him, and as religious disapproval, family anxieties, local gossip, and the dispute over the brewery begin to converge, Rachel and Luke discover that their relationship cannot remain a simple private romance while Mrs. Ray becomes increasingly vulnerable to the suspicions of those around her.
