Raymond de Villiers is a wealthy English aristocrat with a young adoring wife. His first wife, the beautiful, captivating Charlotte, died in mysterious circumstances. Their old, historic country house, Lanverndel, on the Devon coast is suddenly destroyed by fire. Lanverndel and Charlotte's shadow haunt the de Villiers constantly as dramatic events in their lives take them through the French Riviera, the outbreak of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic, and back to wartime England