We have here on Amazon streaming, Emily Mortimer’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s 1945 novel, in a three-episode miniseries, and what is it?

Yes, it’s pretty, the scenery and props, costumes all first rate. But do we care? Sadly, for those of us hungry for any kind of an upper, “Pursuit” is a drop.

It’s a tedious ballroom dance with mansions full of scary, angry portraits, and ultimately, a slice of cold bacon on the breakfast table.

It opens in 1941, with saucy ankles stepping out of a chauffeured limo. Cliche shot.

Then, with a promising few minutes, it suddenly falls into 1927, with boring characters played by well-meaning and talented actors.

Meet Lily James (“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” “Downton Abbey”), Emily Beecham (“Hail Caesar”), Dominic West (“The Affair”), and a host of others, suitably gowned in various period pieces.

Oops! We’re back up in time yet again.

Along comes Dominic West, on horseback with a bullwhip. Dominic, not a bad actor at all, who has moved up from a beer-slugging depressed cop in “The Wire.”

Then he was a depressed, adulterous businessman in “The Affair.”

Now, they’ve given him a fake mustache and a horse, to ride into “Pursuit,” as the boozy “Uncle Matthew,” who chases the kids around a big estate on this horse, snapping the whip, before another couple of drinks and a nap. He does have one good line, “Linda, you’re uneducated, thank God.”

At least he’s good for laughs.

The center piece focuses on the giddy girlhoods of Linda (the still delightful Lily James, who always manages to lighten up whatever darkness they dump her in (Winston Churchill’s secretary).

Linda connects with Fanny (Emily Beecham). Both are smart and sparky actors, but Mortimer gives them boring endless, giggly scenes under the blankets, in fluffy bedrooms and grassy lanes.

Back and forth their relationship goes, like two toy boats in a park pond. Linda gets the hots for a guy, and abandons Fanny. It won’t be the last. Linda is a butterfly with lots of men to light upon.

Then there are the men … oh, never mind. There’s so much more to stream these fevered days. Unless you love lace and fans, fluffy pillows and servants, just move on.

“The Pursuit of Love” streams on Amazon Prime.

J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.

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