When an upper-class married woman has an affair with an Italian musician and the two sneak off to his Italian village, the children on both sides try to do everything to break it up.

Moira Clavering, a middle-class British housewife, meets and falls in love with Italian concert pianist Lorenzo Tassara during one of the numerous absences of her husband, Darrell. When Darrell finds out about his wife's affair, he suggests that she go to Italy with her lover and decide what she must do. Darrell then takes the responsibility of telling their children, Michael and Debby. Unable to accept their mother's departure, the children follow Moira to Italy, where they confront Moira and Lorenzo. To add to the confusion, Lorenzo's daughter, Donna, also arrives and joins the battle to break up the romance between Moira and her father. The three children try everything from hunger strikes to temper tantrums; when all this fails, Michael and Donna go sailing during a storm. After the children are safely rescued, Moira decides that she must return to London and resume her family life.