Beggars on Horseback

Archie Lethbridge arrives in the sun‑kissed hills of Provence with a fresh sale under his belt and a promise of a one‑man show in London. He’s a confident, if slightly self‑conscious, artist who has won the affection of the sensible and well‑bred Gwendolen Gould, whose steady nature balances his own restless ambition. Their courtship feels comfortably conventional, yet Archie’s mind already drifts toward the next canvas that might capture his growing reputation.

Driven by a desire to escape the familiar, Archie hires a motorcar and pushes farther into the rugged back country, where the road claws along sheer precipices and the wind whistles over scarred, yellow‑grass plains. The stark, almost hostile landscape confronts him with a rawness far removed from the tidy olive groves he knows so well, prompting an uneasy mix of awe and apprehension. As the mountains loom, the journey promises to test his artistic vision and the quiet certainty of the life he’s built.