This is a moral tale of love, jealousy and passion set in a small mining village in the county of Derbyshire, England. A young primary school teacher falls in love with the son of the owner of the local limestone quarry, where most of the local residents are employed, The son has a reputation of being a dissolute character who lives on his father's monthly financial allowance and treats life as a playground. He does nothing to assist his father in his business and neither of the schoolteacher's parents approve of him. Their daughter, who wishes to continue her career, needs a responsible man who will assist her ambitions, so sets out to change his profligate behaviour into becoming a respected man of industry. Since the quarry owner's son is attracted to her, he agrees to her advice, though very reluctantly. Meanwhile, he has a rival, who knew the schoolteacher as a child and fell passionately in love with her and wanted to marry her. As he works in the quarry there are confrontations that lead to tragedy. There are also disturbances in the teacher's domestic life with friction between her parents and that also cause concern. Although a fictional tale there are constant genuine historical, geographical and geological references throughout the book..