The narrative opens with a conversation between Jane Holland and George Tanqueray, two brilliant and fiercely independent authors. Both have freed themselves from conventional family ties to devote their lives entirely to literature, believing that the unpardonable sin is separating art from life. However, they find that while painters and musicians are served by a single sense, literature drags them by the heart and brain into the thick of human experience. George is tormented by his own genius and his desperate poverty, which keep him in a state of fierce, ascetic solitude, yet he finds himself perpetually drawn to Jane while simultaneously resenting her cleverness and her attempts to pull him into a romance.
Following their meeting, George retreats to a quiet house in Hampstead, hoping to find absolute seclusion where no one knows him. There, he struggles with his writing and his growing neurosis, haunted by the immense presence of his landlady, Mrs. Eldred. His solitude is broken by the arrival of Mrs. Eldred's niece, Rose, a remarkably feminine and simple young woman who gently takes over his care. Rose is devoted to her small mongrel dog, Joey, and her quiet, tender ministration gradually subdues George's savage temper, offering him a peculiar kind of peace that his intellectual equals cannot provide.
As time passes, George falls ill from exposure, and Rose nurses him with unflagging devotion. During his recovery, he takes her for a drive and a walk on the Heath, where he impulsively destroys her ridiculously gay hat and buys her a simple black one. Moved by an authentic passion, he asks her to marry him. Rose refuses, believing she is not a lady and is unsuited to him, but she finally agrees to let him wait a year. Despite this, her uncle whisks her away to Hampshire to remove her from his influence.
Determined to claim her, George tracks Rose down to Hampshire, where she is working as a nurse. Finding her transformed in a simple white dress, he renews his proposal. Though she still protests that she is not in his class, she capitulates, consenting to marry him when he proves his poverty and his genuine need for her absolute devotion. Meanwhile, Jane Holland continues her own arduous path of creation, dealing with the demands of her celebrity and the intellectual circle that surrounds her, including the adoring poet Arnott Nicholson and the intense, fiery Nina Lempriere.
The narrative contrasts the intellectual companionship Jane offers with the silent, unquestioning subservience Rose provides. George ultimately marries Rose, believing that her lack of intellect and total absorption in his comfort will shield his genius from the exhausting distractions that a brilliant equal like Jane would introduce. The book concludes with a deep exploration of the sacrifices demanded by artistic creation, showing how different women affect the lives and minds of uncompromising artists.
