The unforgiving shore : love. betrayal. death

Young Ellen Colbert 'deserts' her paralysed husband when she can no longer bear caring for him. She takes work as part of the kitchen staff at the Marchmont mansion, where she meets the charming John Marchmont, who whisks her off to Australia. For months John and Ellen enjoy their lives at Mirabilly, a vast cattle station in the north owned by the Marchmonts, until a lawyer's letter arrives for John. They discover that by an accident of family deaths and a destroyed will he has inherited the bulk of the Marchmont wealth. John sets off immediately for London, leaving a jilted Ellen behind. John returns to Mirabilly four years later to discover that Ellen has married the head stockman and has a young son, Paul, who was born soon after John left for London. When Paul's father is tragically drowned, he begins to hear rumours about his true parentage ... his mother denies it, but could he be Marchmont's son?