A woman is planning to marry a wealthy man on an island; but wind delays her passage, and she falls in love with a young man.
Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) withdraws her money from her father's bank and tells him she is going to marry Robert Bellinger, who is wealthy and older. She is going to an island in the Hebrides. On the train she imagines wedding a chemical company. After transferring to a ship and a car, she waits in the fog at night for a ferry. She is welcomed by falconer Col. Barnstaple (C. W. R. Knight) and Torquil MacNeil (Roger Livesey). Catriona Potts (Pamela Brown) comes in with her dogs and says Joan can stay in a room. Joan talks with MacNeil.
The next day MacNeil tells Joan of a gale warning. MacNeil says the castle has a curse, and he has never gone inside; but she goes in. He is the lord of the island of Killoran and has rented it to Bellinger for the duration. He says the Scots around there do not have money, but they are not poor. They take a bus, and men discuss Bellinger. Joan calls Bellinger, who advises her to call the Robinsons and stay with them till the gale ends. Joan asks MacNeil to eat at a separate table. She prays for the wind to stop. He learns she went away in a car and visited the castle of Sorne. The Robinsons take Joan to see Rebecca. People dance and sing. Joan tells MacNeil about the castle. She wants to go, but he delays leaving.
The next morning the wind is still blowing. Joan offers to pay the captain to stand by, but he declines extra pay and will wait until it is safe. Joan asks MacNeil if he has a boat. She learns that young Kenny (Murdo Morrison) needs twenty pounds to marry and offers him that to take her across, but his fiancée pleads with her not to go. MacNeil tells Kenny and Joan not to go and says that she is selfish and foolish. Catriona tells MacNeil that they won't make it and that Joan is trying to get away from him. So MacNeil goes in the boat too. He says they must avoid the whirlpool and stay on course. In the storm the engine conks out. While MacNeil and Kenny fix it, Joan holds the sail and bails water. They get caught in the whirlpool. After the engine starts, they make it back. Catriona tells Joan that money isn't everything.
The next day is calm. MacNeil walks with Joan toward the boat. She asks him to kiss her. Then he goes into the castle for the first time. He hears a voice explaining the curse that a man who goes in there will always be chained to a woman. He sees Joan coming back to him, and they embrace happily.
The subtle charm and theme of this story is the happiness
of the people who live on a remote island with little money as
contrasted to the young woman who thinks she knows where she is
going by marrying a wealthy man.