The story begins on a day in early February 1925 when Emily was the village seamstress engaged to wild Don Burns. Emily lived in the brown cottage directly back to Dr Christians house and her little lean to greenhouse was a colorful place even in February snows. As the scene opens Emily is happily working among her flowers. She looks up in surprise as her fiance Don Burns turns up looking very worried. His elder brother Sandy is in trouble again, involved in a raid, and Don needs Emily to back his story that Sandy has been out of the village for a week. Don tells the lie to protect his poorly mother. But in the absence of his brother the sheriff arrests Don as it was one of the Burns brothers who had been identified as the shooter. Don now finds himself arrested for a murder that his brother committed and calls off the valentines day wedding to Emily knowing that he will be spending a long time in prison. The story then moves on to Valentines day fifteen years later and Emily has returned from Chicago to see Dr Christian in Riversend for some advice of the heart.