Harriet Poole was shattered when her brief affair with Simon Villiers, Oxford's leading playboy, ended abruptly, leaving her penniless, alone and pregnant. Still hopelessly in love with Simon, she took baby William and buried herself in deepest Yorkshire as nanny to the children of Cory Erskine, a somewhat eccentric scriptwriter.

A whole host of visitors began to arrive to disrupt Harriet's peaceful routine: first Cory's estranged wife, Noel, then his brother, Kit, and finally, of all people, Simon....