Lucy Honeychurch, a young middle-class girl, travels with her spinster cousin, Charlotte Bartlett, to Florence where they are on holiday at an Italian pension set up specifically for vacationers from Great Britain. There Lucy meets Mr. Emerson and his son, George, whom she encounters quite unexpectedly on walks and carriage rides. George and Lucy have unsuspected, intimate talks which happen without any intention of hypothetical conclusion. George rouses feelings in her that she is not ready to face, and so she decides not to see him anymore. She continues her excursion to Rome where she spends time with Cecil Vyse, a family friend, who asks her to marry him. After turning him down twice, she finally accepts. Several months later, Lucy and Charlotte are back at their house in Surrey, England. George has discovered her engagement to Cecil and argues vigorously with Lucy, telling her that Cecil will never love her enough to allow her independence. George declares that he loves her for her true self. She is so upset by this declaration that she plans a trip to Greece, but before she leaves she breaks off her engagement to Cecil, and she and her mother attend church where Lucy finds George's father. She cannot lie to Mr. Emerson, and he understands that she has a profound passion for his son. When he convinces her to confront her real sympathies, she admits she has been struggling with her love for George all along. The story ends in Florence where they are spending their honeymoon. Lucy's match with George is totally disrespective on a social rank of acceptability, but it is the only match that can secure her happiness. Circumstances with her family are still troubling, but now there is the prospect of genuine fulfillment.