James and Maggie Smith meet Hugh Rivett at university, where they share a house. Maggie goes to London to research the founders of the Order of the Temple. She believes that her feelings for Hugh will never be returned, where she becomes involved in the recovery of a missing medieval manuscript. After early retirement Hugh's occupation brought him into contact with a sexual abuser from his childhood; in search of respite he goes to visit Maggie and James, where he is concerned with the fate of John Economou, an asylum seeker.