Sylvia Penhurst is forced to bear the burden of her unhappy marriage, her ardent temperament subdued by her husband's cold unfeeling behavour. Then suddenly, to her yearning, caged heart comes love, love of the kind her husband cannot, will not give.

The temptation to surrender to her passionate nature is too much but her happiness is short lived. For Sylvia has a small daughter and she realizes too late that in reaching out for a moment's happiness she has destroyed a child's world.