When Elsa Gripper dies in childbirth on Christmas Eve, 1912, her grief-stricken husband is unable to cope with his two newborn babies, Lucy and Patsy, so the twins are separated. Lucy is taken home with Elsa's parents, who run a successful business, Mersey Antiques, and she grows up spoiled and pampered with no interest in the family firm. Patsy has a more down-to-earth upbringing, living with their father and other grandmother above the Railway Arms. And through further tragedy she learns to be responsible from an early age. Then Patsy is invited to work for her grandfather at Mersey Antiques, which she hopes will bring her closer to Lucy. But it is to take a series of dramatic events for the twins to be drawn together.