Jaspar Pye, a hapless civil servant sent by Whitehall to close down an obscure statistical unit which is operating from a manor home, instead finds himself enchanted by the people and events of Arcady. The fact that the three daughters of the house find him instantly attractive, a sentiment reciprocated, is only the beginning. Mr. Pye's adventures find him the hero of a cricket match, a conspirator in mild skullduggery, sotted in a basement, besotted with the one sister out of reach, and thoroughly enmeshed in the course of life in this remote town. All roads lead to love, of one kind or another, for Jaspar. While performing his duties, he finds a sense of security and self which takes him to places undreamt of until the moment arrives to experience them.