It's 1935 and Lewis Eliot has been at Cambridge for a number of years. He has persevered with his difficult marriage to Sheila who lives in London where Lewis also works occasionally as a legal consultant. He's called into the Foreign Ministry where he's told of suspicions that his old employer, H.G.is suspected to has taken advantage of insider information to profit on a recently issued government contract. At Cambridge, he is helping his good friend Roy Calvert who is hoping to be named a Fellow. Roy is admired by many and seen as a leading academic in his field.