Bill Mor is a middle-aged History and Latin teacher at a public school. He is married to Nan and has two children, Donald and Felicity. Mor has political ambitions to stand as a candidate for the Labour party, although his wife is firmly opposed to any such ambitions. At a friends' dinner, he makes the acquaintance of Rain Carter, a young artist who has arrived at the school to paint a portrait of Demoyte, the school's former headmaster. Mor shows Rain Carter around the town. They are spotted together by Mor's friend Tim Burke, who suspects Mor and Carter might be having an affair.