The Portrait is set mainly in the summer and autumn of 1928,and opens in France where Richard Anderson, a wealthy publisher and writer isresearching for a book he is writing on his home, a 17th centurymanor house in Berkshire, which has undergone major renovations after it beingempty for almost hundred years.Whilst in France he meets Yvette, ayoung French woman, and after a whirlwind romance they return to England, withplans to marry some weeks later.On their arrival at the manor,Yvette sees a portrait hanging in the sitting room and asks Richard aboutit. He tells her of the tragic life of Thomas Courtney, the young squireof the manor in the 1820’s, and of the loss of his wife Catherine, leading tohis eventual suicide.However, Richard could never haveimagined the effect this was to have on Yvette. From that point shebecomes obsessed with the story, having vivid dreams and imaginings, with theresult that tragedy lies in wait.