Richard Grey is a poor clergyman in northern England. He marries his wife, Alice, against the wishes of her rich family, so Alice’s family disowns her. They have six children, but only two—Mary and Agnes—survive past childhood. Richard, anxious that his wife’s standard of living has declined since marrying him, tries to make money by investing in a merchant ship, but when the ship sinks, the Greys are poorer than before. Richard is devastated, and his health suffers. Agnes, now 18, resolves to become a governess to help the family finances.
Agnes gets a job as a governess with the Bloomfield family, acquaintances of her aunt. At the Bloomfield house, Agnes becomes responsible for 7-year-old Tom Bloomfield and his younger sisters Mary Ann and Fanny. She quickly learns that Tom, with the encouragement of his father Mr. Bloomfield and his Uncle Robson, likes to torture helpless animals. She tries to teach him that cruelty to animals is wicked, but he refuses to listen. Although the Bloomfield children are lazy and disobedient, Mrs. Bloomfield gives Agnes no authority to punish them and undermines her attempts to discipline them. Eventually, she fires Agnes, blaming her for the children’s failure to improve.
Determined not to give up, Agnes gets another governess job with the Murray family, who live 70 miles away. She is primarily responsible for the Murrays’ two teenage daughters, vain and pretty Rosalie and tomboy Matilda. Their mother Mrs. Murray wants her daughters to gain educational accomplishments that will make them attractive to rich, well-born suitors, but—like Mrs. Bloomfield—she doesn’t want Agnes disciplining her children or forcing them to work hard.
On Rosalie’s 18th birthday, the Murrays host a huge ball. Agnes isn’t present during the festivities—she goes home to celebrate Christmas with her family and attend her sister Mary’s wedding. But when she returns, Rosalie gloats about all the men who admired her at the ball, including rich aristocrat Sir Thomas Ashby, charming younger son Harry Meltham, and the village rector Mr. Hatfield. Rosalie also mentions that Mr. Hatfield has a new curate, Mr. Weston, whom she criticizes as ugly and charmless. When Agnes asks Rosalie which of her suitors she likes best, she says that she doesn’t like any of them—but she’ll probably end up marrying Sir Ashby, despite rumors of his immorality.
When Agnes hears the new curate Mr. Weston preach in church, she thinks that he is intelligent and sincerely religious, unlike the status-obsessed Mr. Hatfield. One day, Agnes is visiting a poor cottager in the village, Nancy Brown, who has been suffering from an eye inflammation and likes Agnes to read to her. Nancy suffers from “melancholy.” During Agnes’s visit, Nancy mentions that when she sought help and comfort from Mr. Hatfield, he criticized her—but when Mr. Weston heard about her problems, he visited her and gave her excellent, comforting advice. Agnes is happy that Mr. Weston gives her an opportunity to contemplate human goodness. Eventually, she is personally introduced to him when they visit Nancy at the same time.
One spring day, Agnes is walking back to the Murrays’ house from church when she sees some primroses blooming high up in a tree’s roots. She tries to reach them but can’t. Mr. Weston walks up behind her and plucks them for her. They discuss Agnes’s favorite flowers and whether they gain more comfort from having a home or having meaningful work. Later, Rosalie and Matilda tease Agnes about her conversation with Mr. Weston. Agnes claims that they have nothing to tease her for—but she presses one of the primroses into her Bible.
The next day, after lessons, Agnes is completing a watercolor at Rosalie’s request when Mrs. Murray bustles in and asks where Rosalie is. When Agnes says that Rosalie has gone for a walk, Mrs. Murray explains that when Rosalie walks off the Murray property, Mr. Hatfield has been finding her. She asks Agnes to go find Rosalie and remind her not to speak with admirers unchaperoned. Agnes finds Rosalie talking flirtatiously with Mr. Hatfield in a field just outside the Murray property. After he leaves, Agnes informs Rosalie that Mrs. Murray doesn’t want her walking off the Murray property unchaperoned—and Rosalie, annoyed, says that she’s in no danger of falling in love, let alone with Mr. Hatfield, who isn’t rich enough. She also expresses annoyance that her mother doesn’t want her flirting with anyone except Sir Ashby, in case Sir Ashby’s mother hears negative gossip about Rosalie—though the gossip about Sir Ashby’s behavior is far worse.
Four days later, Agnes is chaperoning Rosalie on a walk when Rosalie abruptly sends Agnes on an errand to give money to a poor, dying villager. As Agnes is returning from the errand, Rosalie rushes up to Agnes and explains that Mr. Hatfield just found her and proposed to her—and that she heroically rejected him. Afterward, he threatened to spread damaging gossip about her flirtatious behavior if she told anyone he’d proposed, so she promised not to. Agnes points out to Rosalie that she’s already broken her promise and counsels her not to tell anyone else except her mother.
Rosalie is bored now that her flirtation with Mr. Hatfield has ended. One day, she insists Agnes accompany her on a walk into town. Mr. Weston sees Agnes and engages her in conversation. Rosalie talks vivaciously to Mr. Weston and, when Mr. Weston leaves, gloats to Agnes that she has captivated him. Agnes, horrified, hopes that Rosalie is incorrect—for Mr. Weston’s sake and her own. Later, Rosalie tells Agnes that as Sir Ashby will likely propose soon, she wants to conquer Mr. Weston’s heart before then. The following week, Rosalie accepts a marriage proposal from Sir Ashby at a ball. As the engagement is kept quiet, Rosalie continues attempting to “conquer” various men.
In the summer, after Rosalie marries Sir Ashby and goes on her honeymoon, Agnes and Matilda run into Mr. Weston while they are all visiting poor villagers. Mr. Weston asks after Rosalie, but Agnes notes that he seems in no way sad about Rosalie’s marriage—except insofar as he has heard alarming gossip about Sir Ashby. The next day, Agnes receives a letter from her family saying that her father is extremely sick. Agnes rushes home, but her father has already died. After the funeral, Agnes decides to quit her job with the Murrays and open a small school with her mother. She returns to the Murrays and gives notice. During her last week in the village, Mr. Weston approaches her after church, says goodbye to her, and asks whether it would matter to her whether they met again. She says she would like that a great deal.
Agnes and her mother open a small school in a coastal town. For a while, Agnes hopes to hear from Mr. Weston—but when she doesn’t, she resolves to stop pining for him. The next June, she receives a letter from Rosalie asking her to visit Ashby Park. When Agnes visits, she discovers that Rosalie is miserable: her husband is unfaithful, jealous, and frequently drunk. Agnes tries to give Rosalie helpful advice, but she suspects that Rosalie won’t follow it.
Shortly after returning from Ashby Park, Agnes goes for an early walk on the beach when, unexpectedly, she runs into Mr. Weston. He walks her home. He mentions that he wasn’t able to figure out where she had moved and asks whether he could call on her mother. Agnes agrees. Mr. Weston and Agnes’s mother get on excellently, and Mr. Weston begins calling regularly, becoming a close family friend. Then, one evening, he proposes to Agnes, revealing that he has received her mother’s consent. Mr. Weston and Agnes get married, have three children, and live happily together.
