When Rachel Kemp is in danger of losing her job at a London University visiting academic Luke Holloway takes her for a sybaritic weekend in the country to cheer her up. Her encounters with Luke and his enigmatic friend Max, open up a world of sensual possibilities, and she is even offered a new job editing a sexually explicit Victorian diary. But when Rachel returns to London, she is accused of smuggling papers out of the country and is sacked on the spot. When she tries to clear her name she discovers her actions have dangerous - and highly erotic - consequences.