Caroline Ruthyn is the teenage niece of her elderly uncle Silas, a sickly and at one time unbalanced man who becomes her guardian on the death of her father. The fact that Silas is broke and greedy and young Caroline is the heir to her father's vast fortune is reason enough for Caroline to be wary, but her fears increase when she meets Silas's perverted son and when she discovers that her fearsome former governess, Madame de la Rougierre, is working with her uncle...