Elm Tree Terrace is host to an odd collection of guests. Colin Jepson, a young graduate from Sydney, turns up unannounced to look for a room. Mary Mercy who checks his references puzzles Colin: she is not English, but perhaps European, yet her dress belies this. Colin is entranced by her eyes. The other guests at the boarding house fit their stereotypes: a middle-aged school teacher from Scotland and a couple visiting from Adelaide. The boarding house...