This television drama is set just after the first World War. It tells the story of Alice, 17-year-old daughter of a greengrocer in a country town, who is sent to work as a maid in the home of the local miller, Mr Holland. Mrs Holland is a bedridden, dropsical old woman; their son, Albert, is still soldiering in Germany. After Holland seduced Alice, who does not understand what has happened to her, the girl becomes pregnant, but thinks that she, too, has dropsy.

When Albert returns from abroad. the two young people are attracted to each other, but when Albert discovers her pregnancy, suspecting his father to be responsible, he persuades Alice to leave the Mill.