When Marion Laing's ex-husband dies she is far from satisfied with the country house and annual income of 20,000 that he leaves her. Not nearly enough for an extravagant and greedy lady with a passion for the best things in life. But Marion is nothing if not resourceful and she immediately turns her considerable charm on one of her fellow trustees: Geoffrey Montacute, the dry-as-dust bachelor solicitor who lives with his mother in a hideous, gloomy suburban villa. So Marion, with no clear plan in mind, but an unerring instinct for the main chance, sets out to seduce him.