Summer 1900: Leo is the guest of Marcus, a wealthy classmate, at a grand home in rural Norfolk. Leo is befriended by Marian (Julie Christie), Marcus’s sister who is about to be engaged to Hugh, a viscount. However she has fallen in love with a handsome young tenant farmer (Alan Bates) whose class makes an open affair unthinkable. She is unable to resist temptation though and sends messages to her lover to arrange a meeting through Leo, the go-between. Based on the novel by L.P. Hartley.