Repressed sexuality and social snobbery of the British upper-class are undone when a widow on vacation dallies with a handsome, young Italian. Relatives and friends hurry from England to "save" her.

The widow, Lilia Herriton, meets a young man when she visits Italy and marries him. The man is only a dentist without a good name, and Lilia's relatives are clearly unhappy with her choice. Lilia dies while gving birth to a son, and tow relatives travel to Italy to take care of the baby, expecting no trouble from the father...

Based on the novel by E.M. Forster.