Philip Barrimore is driven to distraction by his uncle, who has taken up residence in his mother's home. Against all advice, he takes a cottage some 5 miles away in order to write. Things get complicated when the girl he loves, the beautiful Phyllis, makes him complicit in her secret marriage just two days earlier. Her new husband has left for India, and in his absence, her old beau returns to try and persuade her to marry him. As Philip tries to settle in his new home, ghosts from the past resurface to muddy the waters further. - Summary by Lynne T