Giles Winterbourne and Grace Melbury were virtually promised to one another; now her father has other plans, forcing her marriage to Edred Fitzpiers. His philandering and poverty sour their marriage, and the woodman remains sunk in dogged devotion. The events that follow are echoed in the bewitching but pitiless cycle of the seasons, as the village of Little Hintock is caught up inextricably in the natural world.