Therese, a young shopgirl dreaming of a more fulfilling life, has a chance encounter at a department store with the irresistible and elegant Carol, who is going through a divorce. A fleeting attraction rapidly grows into an all-consuming feeling that changes both of their lives forever. Their secret affair is complicated when Carol's husband, learning of the relationship, decides to use the prejudices of a ruthless era to gain sole custody of their young daughter. Carol is forced to make an agonizing choice between her love and her child.