In 18th century Gloucestershire Lady Catherine Balfour is struggling to quell the passions which are surfacing in her at the sight of so many handsome labourers working her land. But she is also despairing of her husband’s spendthrift ways. When he commissions aspiring artist Joshua Fox to paint a portrait of the Balfour family, it is the last straw. However, Fox is about to turn her world upside down. This man, whom she assumes is a mincing fop, is about to seduce every woman in the village – Catherine included. But she has a rival: her own wilful and haughty daughter Sophie is determined to claim Fox as her own.