Following an unexplained murder in Tokyo's largest cosmetics store, John McKay, a British management consultant, is hired to analyze Marallon Cosmetics company's Tokyo business operations. Before his departure for Japan, John's training in Marallon's business activities takes him to Beauregard House, a residential hotel in London's West End, close to the Lancaster Gate. There, he crosses paths with a pretty, photographic fashion model who has been hired to help launch a new line of cosmetics; an American nuclear physicist considering a new research opportunity in the Middle East; a TV voice-over actor looking for romance; and a few other colorful and interesting people. Destiny awaits them all in Beauregard House at London's Lancaster Gate. John becomes involved in the tangled affairs of Madeline Claiborne, a professional model preparing to model Marallon's newest products at London's major department stores. They travel to Cambridge to visit Madeline's grandmother-later tour London's sights, but their growing affection for each other is interrupted by his consulting engagement in Tokyo for Marallon Cosmetics. They promise to meet again at the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square after his work in Japan is completed. Will they meet again or will John return to his previous life?