Louise and Rebecca, good friends since their BBC days in Belfast, work for a film company and are scouring the south of England for a suitable location to shoot a movie about Elizabeth I. As they stumble across Wooldene House, they meet Diana and Henry, who own the property. Diana, widowed, feels her life is slowly crumbling along with the house, and yearns for new romance. Diana spends her time looking after their aunt Lucy who, as she senses time is running out, begins to share the startling secrets in her past. And Henry, retired from the Army after a stint in Northern Ireland, is increasingly drawn to Louise - but their shared history, which places them on opposite sides of the troubles, threatens them both . . .