Laura Reynolds, a freethinking artist,
lives with her 9-year-old illegitimate son, Danny, in a beach house
near Monterey. The boy's uninhibited upbringing has brought
him into conflict with the law, and Laura is ordered by the court to
enroll him in the private school headed by Episcopal clergyman
Edward Hewitt or risk losing him.
Convinced that she can better educate
the boy herself, she complies reluctantly, resentful of the judge's
interference. She is surprised, however, at the ease with
which Danny settles down to the school routine.
Despite the initial hostility between
Laura and Hewitt, who is married and the father of two boys, they
are drawn into a passionate love affair. Antagonized by her
nonconformist friends, Hewitt nevertheless yields to his passion,
though he is tormented by guilt and humiliation. He reveals
his affair to his wife, Claire, who withdraws, brokenhearted; and he
subsequently makes a public admission. Laura condemns him for
making their private relationship into public gossip, and they sever
their liaison.
Hewitt now confronts the self-seeking
politicians who have been using him and his school for their own
ends, and he resigns his headmastership. Leaving both Claire
and Laura behind, he sets off to regain his former ideals as a
minister.
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