The Master of Lewis Eliot 's Cambridge college lies dying. Behind the facade of civilised learning, 13 colleagues battle to choose his successor.

As war looms, Lewis Eliot is drafted into Whitehall. Simultaneously he faces crises in the personal lives of his wife Sheila and his intimate friend Roy Calvert.

A wartime civil servant, Lewis Eliot is introduced to the vivacious Margaret Davidson. As their relationship develops he discovers that he is still haunted by the memory of his first wife.