The enigmatic Mrs. Smith, living in a remote part of England with her housekeeper, finds herself once again subjected to suspicion in connection with a murder case in which she was tried years before, and from which she was discharged, the verdict being "not proven." All would have been well if her son had not fallen in love with the daughter of a newspaper man who in his youth had covered the trial, and now suspects Mrs. Smith.

In the Orders Office of Chunkbix Ltd., it is decidedly Mr. Price Hargraves who gives the orders and little Mr. Bloome who obeys them - until Mr. Bloome is astonishingly accused of chasing a young female across the Common. To his and Mr. Price Hargraves' amazement this reprehensible conduct makes him the hero of every woman and girl in the office, even Price Hargraves' hitherto devoted secretary and the formidable chairman, Lady Chesapeake.