A middle-aged man returns to a country house where, as a boy, he acted as a secret messenger between a wealthy young woman and her lower-class lover, a role that ended in tragedy and shaped the rest of his life. The story moves between his elderly recollections and the long, hot Edwardian summer during which the fateful events unfolded, exploring themes of class, innocence and the destructive power of secrets. Based on L. P. Hartley's celebrated novel, the production examines how a single season of unwitting complicity can leave lasting psychological damage on a child ill-equipped to understand the adult world around him.