In 1890 Hannah McLeod, an 18 year-old English girl, is living in Paris where she works at a small restaurant. Only her neighbour, Toby Kent, a struggling artist, knows the strange and horrifying secret that makes her afraid to return to England. Then one night, Hannah unwittingly becomes entangled in circumstances that force her to flee to England and become French tutor in the household of a Mr. Sebastian Ryder. But why should Mr. Ryder want to employ her? Does he know something about the secrets in her past? As the tale unfolds, carrying her to Mexico and back again to Paris, Hannah is caught up in a struggle between two men of great wealth and power - a struggle which threatens her life - before the final discovery of where her happiness lies.