In 1864, badly wounded, deserted Northern corporal John McBurney drags himself near the stately manor turned into a posh finishing school, Miss Martha Farnsworth's Seminary for Young Ladies in Civil War-torn Virginia. Found by Amy, one of the five remaining students, he's taken in to be nursed and the only available feast of manly splendor for the eyes of six single females. Initially he's locked in for safety and 'modesty', but once properly recovering interacts, even too intimately and somewhat manipulatively, with a few of his 'secret' admirers. Emotions rise and conflicts, but when after a festive phase he's considered out of control, the six conspire cruelly.—KGF Vissers