Having recently converted to Catholicism, Frank Guiseley receives a letter from his father, Lord Talgarth, in a fit of rage informs him that he should no longer expect any support from himself. Frank, in a spirit somewhat tinged by the romanticism of it all, takes his father at his word, leaves his university and sets out on the road to make his own way in life, with no particular skills and no definite plan. While his family, his fiancee, and his friends wait for this phase to be over, Frank discovers a deeper pull that leads him on a grand adventure of self-discovery over the English countryside.