When Paul Pennyfeather is unfairly expelled from Oxford University, he finds his only option is to go and teach at a substandard boarding school in rural Wales. There he meets a colourful cast of characters, including the alluring Margot Beste-Chetwynde, a wealthy widow with designs on the naeve Paul.

Paul Pennyfeather finds himself tutoring the son of Margot Beste-Chetwynde over the school summer holidays. As he tries to act natural among the higher echelons of 1920s society crowding Margot's elegant home, Paul wonders whether the feelings he fosters for the wealthy and alluring widow are returned.