"The love that dare not speak its name." A woman's reputation is very precious, but the county set of Somerset like to gossip about the Countess of Tawford and her "friend," Claude. She's the toast of the county, but she carries a painful, burdensome secret. Is she a woman without morals or integrity - or is this a tale of innocence and experience? Why should the arrest of a public figure affect her - and how can a flower hold the key to unlock the door to her lonely prison?