When Christine Rainwood goes to stay at the pleasant old Border hotel with her friend Rachel their intention is only to take a holiday before setting about the task of deciding their future careers. But for Rachel the hotel itself provides the solution. It is for sale, and she enjoys taking over and trying to make a success of it while Christine finds an ideal forestry job nearby, helping Giles Coalville work his newly-inherited but run-down estate. Keeping Giles the employer and Giles the friend in separate compartments proves increasingly difficult for Christine, but she meets more immediate troubles when Rachel comes entirely under the sway of Neil Camberley and his too-enveloping charm. The rift which he attempts to drive between the two friends is only repaired after heartache and near-disaster, but the presence of Giles is a support for Christine which brings her eventual happiness.