In 1937, London music critic and composer Roderick "Rick" Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela fall in love with Windward House, an abandoned seaside home, during a holiday on Cornwall's rocky coast. They purchase it for an unusually low price from Commander Beech. Rick and Pamela meet Beech’s 20-year-old granddaughter, Stella Meredith, who lives with her grandfather in the nearby town of Biddlecombe. Stella is deeply upset by the sale because of her attachment to the house, despite its being where her mother, Mary Meredith, fell to her death. The commander has forbidden Stella to enter the house or to see Rick. However, she gains access to Windward House through Rick, who becomes infatuated with her.