Nurse Laurie Fielding's first assignment after completing her training was to go to the tropical island of Mondego and take charge of her sister's three-year-old son.
But Laurie's sister, Stella, had made one curious provision: that when Laurie came to Mondego, Laurie was to be known as "Nurse Bell" instead of "Nurse Fielding" because it was vital that Stella's husband should not know that Laurie was Stella's sister. Laurie agreed to carry out Stella's wish, but there were just two things that Laurie had not foreseen. First, that it was possible for her to fall in love in Mondego, even under a false name, and second, that an old flame might then come to the island, a man who not only knew Laurie herself but also the man with whom Laurie had fallen in love.