Sara Causseley could not be more delighted by her new job as governess to the aristocratic Hallam clan. The children are adorable, the gardens are a dream, and the conversation stimulating. But ominous political clouds are gathering over Europe, and as England slips inexorably toward World War II, the Hallams' political views make the family increasingly unpopular. No one, though, suspects the extent of the malice that is percolating in the surrounding countryside until a human skeleton'and then a human corpse'are found on the Hallam grounds, sending some kind of ugly message.