Lois Hunter is well off and happily married, with a house in the country, two well-adjusted children, and a banker husband who commutes to London. Both are pillars of the community and lead richly rewarding lives. Why, then does Lois develop an attachment to a beggar she sees outside a supermarket? There is nothing sexual in it, she insists, but the sight of Oliver and his two puppies sitting on the cold pavement touches her heart. She resolves to help him, and her philanthropy produces some strain in her marriage. Her sister, too, is critical -- until she meets Oliver, and, in turn, becomes as obsessed as Lois...