As her children plot the takeover of her retail empire, Emma Harte plans her own counter-moves against them. Emma started life as a maid in the home of Adam Fairley, the wealthy local mill owner. She works hard not only at the Fairley's but also in her own home taking care of her father, two brothers and a bedridden and dying mother.

Now in Leeds, the pregnant Emma Harte learns that Blackie O'Neill has gone to Ireland to care for a sick friend. She finds a place to stay but has tried everywhere to get a job with no success. Her luck changes when she rescues a middle-aged man, Abraham Kallinski, be stoned by two boys.

As Emma Harte's empire grows, she arranges her assets in such a way as no one knows she is the buyer, noting that most men don't like dealing with a woman on business matters. The various layers of ownership come in quite handy as George Fairley drinks and gambles his family businesses away and she gets a opportunity to buy them cheap.