It is 1918 and the Great War is ending. The evening before the last great battle, Ben receives word that a flu epidemic has killed his entire family and decimated the staff on their estate. Devastated, he feels he has nothing to live for now and is reckless in battle the next morning. Badly wounded, he is sent home to an auxiliary hospital in England. Laura lives with her aunt and looks after her grandfather, the earl, who is now old and frail. They are visited by the naval officer she expects to marry, only for her to discover he has already married someone else. Not long afterwards, her grandfather dies and her cousin inherits the earldom and the estate. Now Laura is at a loose end, as all her plans and expectations have crumbled to dust. Looking for some new purpose, she volunteers at the local wartime hospital.