The plot follows a young man who falls for an idealistic young woman he meets aboard an Atlantic liner; she seeks a paragon of chivalry and he briefly appears to fit the role through a fortunate misunderstanding but cannot sustain the part. A parrot-faced rival pursues the same woman, and both men trail her to a Hampshire country house where further schemes, blunders, and social embarrassments escalate into farcical episodes. The narrative blends romantic misadventure with gentle satire of upper-class manners, relying on comic timing, awkward situations, and a cast of eccentric relatives to generate humorous complications before a final reckoning.