Set in a wealthy English household in rural Ireland during the First World War, Loving portrays life from the viewpoint of domestic servants, who wait upon a mother and daughter and the daughter's two little girls. The young husband is away at the front, which leaves the door open for the neighbour, Captain Davenport, to arrive on his bicycle and share the lady's bed. But the sexual activity is by no maens confined to the quality- the two parlour maids, Edith and Kate, are each the object of male affection, for Ruance, the newly promoted butler has his eye on one, and Paddy the Irish lampman (who also takes care of the peacocks) is not indifferent to the other. All these affaires are conducted to a chorus of tart comment from the rest of the female domestics. The simple tale of romance in time of war is most beautifully illuminated in the telling, and especially in the masterly dialogue which captures every subtlety of feeling.