Stolen way back in 1880, a sack of United States mail is discovered in an old attic in 1942. The letters are finally delivered, profoundly affecting the lives of the recipients.

When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy.

A teenager who's been raised and home-schooled at her father's Texas ranch must adjust to her new surroundings and being with other students when she's sent to a San Antonio high-school.

A runaway orphan is befriended by a kind-hearted pet store owner with a criminal past.

A society girl tries to make a go of her marriage to an archaeologist.

A mother sends her young son to military school so he won't find out she's been sentenced to a prison term on a framed fraud charge.

Sam Preston is a small-town newspaper publisher who suffers from wanderlust. Leaving his family, he thinks well-provided for, he packs a suitcase and hits the road. Ten years later he comes back to find the newspaper shuttered and his family gone.