In 1938 Jane Townsend drives to the Loire valley to purchase samples of stone to enable her injured father to continue carving. There she meets Henri Bodin and is immediately drawn to him, before a family bereavement takes Jane back to her Yorkshire home. World War II intervenes.

In 1938 Jane Townsend drives to the Loire valley to purchase samples of stone to enable her injured father to continue carving. There she meets Henri Bodin and is immediately drawn to him, before a family bereavement takes Jane back to her Yorkshire home. World War II intervenes. Though anxious about her family, she also finds herself needing to find out more about Henri's fate in occupied France. In her first real contribution to the war effort, Jane meets Squadron Leader Adrian Stewart, who becomes a supportive friend. Accompanying him on a covert mission to France, involving the French Resistance, Jane witnesses a confrontation between Adrian and Henri. When peace finally comes Jane will return to her career, but her personal life is in turmoil. Only after surviving grief does she find that love has endured as surely as if it were carved into stone.