Post-war life in Giles and Kate St. Clair's manor of Tremontaine, just a couple hours from London, is normally quiet for assistant cook Ellie Stone. When young John St. Clair returns unexpectedly from his American college the same week his father's business partner Martin Trevayn is visiting to conclude a business deal, though, tensions run high. Giles St. Clair takes out some of his stress on Ellie's girlfriend Abby, a housemaid, and in a flare of anger, Ellie wishes the head of the family dead.
The feeling passes quickly, and is soon forgotten. Until the next day, when she hears the gunshot...
