Dulcima Gaskain Carol White is the eldest daughter of a large, poor Gloucestershire farming family, with a father Bernard Lee who ill-treats her. While visiting their neighbour, Mr Parker John Mills, she finds him unconscious in the farmyard after a drunken fall that left him with a head wound, and she notices his hat stuffed with cash. Despite his gruff, dirty ways and a house that’s chaotic with chickens roaming about, she volunteers to clean and tidy the place.
Parker is a widower, and he eventually agrees to let her become his housekeeper. His sexual interest in Dulcima is awakened when she arrives for work on a warm day, her blouse a little open to reveal her cleavage. To fend him off, she fabricates a fictitious boyfriend, 'Albert', inspired by a male model she saw in a magazine.
Parker then introduces Dulcima to his shady dealings at the local livestock auction. As she continues to work there, he neglects to pay her, but she keeps a careful tally of what he owes. Parker also tries to spy on Dulcima as she bathes and invites her to share a beer in the parlour, but she declines. While cleaning, she discovers that Parker has a substantial stash of cash hidden away and she begins to nudge his lustful interest forward, occasionally reminding him that he owes wages, though he always deflects.
Eventually, she shares his bed, but she keeps calling him only by his name, not making him more than a temporary protector or provider. Out walking one day, Dulcima meets Ashby, a young gamekeeper who resembles her imagined 'Albert' Stuart Wilson. He asks her to pass on a request to enter Parker’s land when his pheasants wander there, but she does not, and Parker later spots him on his farm and makes his displeasure clear.
When Parker thinks she might be leaving, he pushes harder to secure her commitment and pay. He agrees to pay, and she demands about £40 rather than the roughly £20 she has tracked, but Parker under-pays. She then takes back some of the money from his hidden hoard, and begins to spend on a hair-do, stylish clothes, makeup, and shoes. Parker, impressed by her transformation, starts to ease his own stinginess.
In town, Dulcima sees Ashby again and intentionally boards the same bus home as him, exchanging glances. He plucks wildflowers and gives them to her, and later she visits his cottage for tea, responding to his invitation.
Parker keeps pressing Dulcima to marry him, but she says she wants to wait. To pry her toward agreement, he buys a television for their future - something to do in the evenings - and hints at more money, even revealing the cash stash he believes she doesn’t know about.
Then, on a whim, Parker rushes into town as shops close and buys a wedding dress for Dulcima, placing it in a gift box. When he invites her to view the gift, she says she’s off to visit her family. Suspicious that she’s dressing up, he follows and witnesses her meeting Ashby in a field, sharing a kiss and heading toward his house. Ashby and Dulcima go dancing that night. Parker drinks heavily and becomes violent when she returns, destroys the living room, wrecks the new TV, and tears up the wedding dress. He then pleas for forgiveness through her locked door. She remains silent.
The next morning, Dulcima sees Ashby in the farmyard through her bedroom window. Descending, she discovers the ruined wedding dress and a wedding ring in a box, moving her to tears. There is no sign of Parker. She meets Ashby outside and tearfully tells him she cannot go with him because she’s worried about Parker. Ashby replies, “You'd better stay then,” just before Parker fires and shoots him dead from an attic window.
