By the terms of her father's will, Harriet Gann is forced to marry within a year of his death, or the Gann estate will be passed to her half brother, Wendell Guest.
Everyone for miles has heard of Harriet and her hautiness. Consiquently, no one is willing to marry her, even with the estate as a dowery. Only one man is willing to take the chance. The drunken stable hand, Joel Meekham. In desperation Harriet accepts his offer, but to her surprise she finds that there is more to him than is at first obvious. Then, just as she is beginning to have affections for him, Joel decides it's time to leave.
