From the time Leslie Titmuss was a young boy, Reverend Simcox encouraged his endeavors. Now an accounts clerk at the Simcox brewery, Titmuss shows every sign of being on the way up. The same can't be said of the rector's sons, Henry and Fred, who appear to be on a downward track.

The relationship between Fred, the jazz-drumming medical student, and Agnes, the local doctor's daughter, hits a sour note. Meanwhile, Henry finds out that he and his brother have more in common than either could have guessed. And Titmuss makes his own moves on the romantic front.

Fred's relationship with Agnes's father, Dr. Salter, improves even as his affair with Agnes ends. Titmuss's romance with Charlotte Fanner, on the other hand, goes from strength to strength, but both sets of parents disapprove.

Henry and Agnes get married and have a child, and the brothers finally reconcile. But as he's coming to terms with his current life, Fred also begins to probe some mysteries in his past. Always looking to the future, Leslie Titmuss engineers a victory for the hated Labour Party in the parliamentary election.

The death of a local poacher is thought to be accidental. But Fred isn't convinced. Why did Dr. Salter always pretend he didn't know the man? The good doctor and the poacher may share more in common than meets the eye--and seem destined for the same fate.