In 18th century England, the close relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is threatened by the arrival of Sarah's cousin, Abigail Hill, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two cousins to be the Queen's favourite.

Leslie Caron plays a young, pregnant, unmarried Frenchwoman who takes a room in a seedy boarding house in London. She soon makes friends with Toby, a struggling writer who lives downstairs, and eventually gets to accept her room and the strange characters in the house. But what to do about her baby? And what to do about Toby?