After the death of her mother, Mollie Barnes was lucky to be taken in by her Aunt Rose and Uncle Sam. Rose, however, has never hidden her resentment towards the girl, and frequently makes her life a misery. Mollie has learned to live with this as best she can over the years, and tries to balance her back-breaking job collecting sea-coal with her Aunt's unreasonable demands, and more than her fair share of the household chores. But, following an angry outburst from Rose, Mollie inadvertently discovers the shocking truth about her parentage. Everyday, Mollie had been working on the beach, under the shadow of the big house on the cliff, but now she knows that the master of that house, James Grainger, is her real father. Deciding she deserves a better life, Mollie sets out to get it, whatever the cost. Putting her plans into action, she befriends the young Grainger girl, Charlotte, and gains access to the house. However, her plans are soon put on hold when she finds herself the unwilling object of James' son's affections, and matters are further complicated as she finds herself falling for none other than Mark Hamilton, a distant relation of the Graingers', who has been betrothed to Charlotte since childhood