Friends Rachel West and Hester Gresley navigate Victorian society. Rachel, an heiress, loves weak-willed Hugh Scarlett. Hester resides with her pompous vicar brother, Archibald, who despises her own writing. He burns her manuscript, triggering Hester's nervous collapse. Hugh's past dishonor surfaces; Rachel ends the engagement, leading to his suicide. A sharp critique of religious hypocrisy and patriarchal control over women's art and lives in England.