In the hierarchal structure that pervaded a stately home in England in the 1930s, a poverty-stricken maid, Jane Hennessey, extorts money from her employer, Lady Caroline Melchester. Caroline's affair with her employee, Adam Brownlow, has consequences that changes lives forever. Charlotte's last words implore her brother Adam to reconcile with Lady Caroline. His grief obscures her words because his lover's apathy hastened his beloved sister's death...