When rich recluse Austin Ruthyn dies from a heart attack, Maud, his daughter is made a ward to the sinister Uncle Silas. Silas is already suspected of the grisly murder of a creditor several years earlier but has never been tried for the crime. Should Maud die before she reaches her majority, Silas will inherit the family fortune. Rejecting an offer of marriage from the distasteful Dudley, Silas' son, Maud finds out later that he is already married. Then father and son pretend to send her to school in France but she awakes to find herself prisoner and the two frightful villains, aided by the disgraced Madame de Rougierre, once Maud's governess, plan to murder the heroine in an horrific manner. A chilling tale brimming with suspense.