In the early 1900s, Laura Tweedle Ramsbotham (Susannah Fowle) arrives at an exclusive Melbourne ladies college to jeers of country bumpkin and tweedle-dumb, rams bum. Spirited and talented though she is, the pressure to fit in almost defeats her, until she learns to be as ruthless as the other girls. She invents an illicit liaison with the handsome new minister (John Waters), but becomes a pariah when this is revealed as a fantasy. An older girl, the elegant and kindly Evelyn Suitor (Hilary Ryan) takes her under her wing. Laura falls madly in love with her, but Evelyn leaves the school early in order to escape her ardour. Laura completes the ordeal of her schooling by winning a music scholarship she will spend two years studying piano in Leipzig, Germany.