- A pair of literary sleuths unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell.
- Roland Michell is an American scholar trying to make it in the difficult world of British Academia. He has yet to break out from under his mentor's shadow until he finds a pair of love letters that once belonged to one of his idols, a famous Victorian poet. Michell, after some sleuthing, narrows down the suspects to a woman not his wife, another well known Victorian poet. Roland enlists the aid of a Dr. Maud Bailey, an expert on the life of the woman in question. Together they piece together the story of a forbidden love affair, and discover one of their own. They also find themselves in a battle to hold on to their discovery before it falls into the hands of their rival, Fergus Wolfe.—C.D.
- In a fictional story, literary scholars American Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart) and British Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow) independently find that the socially antagonistic relationship between the Victorian era poets Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam) and Christabel LaMotte (Jennifer Ehle) may have concealed a secret connection as lovers. Ash is traditional and conservative, and LaMotte is a freethinking bisexual. LaMotte did not like how Ash portrayed women in his poems.
Michell is the research assistant to Professor Fergus Wolfe (Toby Stephens) at the British Museum. Maud is dating Fergus. Fergus is an awe of Professor Cropper (Trevor Eve), who is also rich from inheritance and uses his money to buy stuff on Ash from auctions.
Michell is researching a book, in which he finds a romantic letter written by Ash to an unknown woman. He steals the letter which was hidden inside a book in the library. He reveals the letter to his apartment owner Euan (Tom Hollander), who is also a solicitor. Ash was supposed to be a devoted loyalist to his wife Ellen (Holly Aird) and the release of this letter would be a scandal. The British museum has an whole archive on Ash's stuff. Professor Blackadder (Tom Hickey) is Fergus's colleague.
Michell seeks out Maud as she is researching LaMotte. Maud reveals that she is descended from Ash & his wife Ellen. Blanche Glover (Lena Headey) was LaMotte's lover. Michell is astonished to find that she was a bisexual. Blanche's diary reveals that Lamotte used to receive many letters that she wasn't allowed to see or read. Maud says none of those letters mentioned by Blanche ever turned up anywhere. Michell stays overnight and Maud brings him to her home. He shows her the letters he found.
Maud takes Michell to meet towns-folks Sir George (Graham Crowden) and Lady Bailey (Anna Massey), who live in an old mansion that belonged to LaMotte and show them Lamotte's old room. At night, Maud deciphers one of LaMotte's old poems and figures that the letters must be hidden underneath LaMotte's dollies. They find a secret compartment in the doll crib and a bunch of letters, never discovered before.
After meeting LaMotte at a party, Ash wants to continue seeing her, but Lamotte prefers some correspondence instead. Michell and Maud read all the letters between them. LaMotte is wary that their continued correspondence will not be looked upon well by the society or by Ash's wife. She asks for all her letters back, which Ash returns. Later, Blanche finds the letters and hides them, telling LaMotte that she burned them. By this time, the letters indicate that LaMotte was very much in love with Ash. Ash invites LaMotte to go with him to Yorkshire, away from society. But that's when the letters end. By the morning, Sir George wakes up and confiscates all the letters.
Maud and Michell head to London to research Ellen's diary. Michell finds a letter that Blanche had written to Ellen indicating the affair between Ash and LaMotte. Ellen was guilt ridden as she thought she was not a good wife to Ash, for not bearing him a son or for not being physical with him. So, she threw Blanche and the letters out when presented with the evidence. Fergus meanwhile figures that Maud and Michell are up to something and goes to Cropper to ask if there was something between Ash and Lamotte. Cropper rubbishes the notion.
It is shown in flash black that Ash and LaMotte went to Yorkshire for 4 weeks. LaMotte agreed to stay in the same room as Ash. Maud and Michell travel to Yorkshire and find the same hotel where Ash and LaMotte stayed. They also find a cave hidden behind a local waterfall, referred to in LaMotte's poem. Ash and LaMotte eventually had sex in Yorkshire. Michell and Maud get talking and eventually prepare to have sex. Michell pulls out at the last-minute saying this is wrong. After her tryst with Ash, LaMotte disappears for over a year (some say she went to France), and Blanche dies by drowning (apparently a suicide).
Michell returns to London, but Cropper and Fergus arrive in the Bailey mansion. They try to buy the letters from George. Michell returns to Maud with evidence that Fergus knows something and is on the trail of the letters. He has been seeking information on LaMotte from universities around Europe. Michell apologies for pushing away Maud and gets back together with her. They visit one of the French Universities where Maud helps steal a package the professor had prepared for Fergus. The package reveals documentation that LaMotte stayed in France (with her cousin Sebine) after her vacation with Ash. She was pregnant and gave birth (which is why she was gone for an entire yr). LaMotte received word in France that Blanche committed suicide.
Ash had tracked down LaMotte and wanted to know about the child. LaMotte told Ash that he made a murdered out of her (Which Ash understands that she murdered their own child). Maud is depressed that LaMotte gave up her perfectly happy life with Blanche and got nothing. She and Michell fight that all relationships are doomed. When Ash was on his deathbed, LaMotte wrote to Ellen, enclosing a letter for Ash, revealing the truth. Ellen never gave the letters to Ash.
Michell returns the letters stolen from the library to Blackadder. He overhears Cropper and Fergus planning to dig into Ash's grave where they find a box, with the last 2 letters written by LaMotte, but never delivered to Ash. Michell, Maud and Blackadder stop Cropper from escaping with the letters. In the box, they find LaMotte's hair, and her letter which reveals the existence of their daughter. The child was adopted.
Unknown to anyone, Ash had run into the child one summer day. He recognized her by her name (after the waterfall with the cave in Yorkshire). and the child told him that she stayed with her parents and aunt Cristobal. Ash knew she was his daughter. The lock of hair in the box belonged to the little girl and not LaMotte. Ash gave the girl 2 letters to give to LaMotte, but the girl got distracted playing in the meadows and dropped the letters. Those were the letters that Michell found in the library.
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