Amelie Aston is an orphan. When eight she was adopted by the Reverend Thacker and brought up by him and his wife in a Somerset village. She led a sheltered life, though as she matures she is subjected to the unwelcome attentions of his sons. Thacker, too, lusts after her, relieving his frustration by administering corporal punishment, correction, using his whip and cane. Now eighteen Amelie is a lovely young woman with chestnut hair and green eyes, and obsessed by his guilt, Thacker finds her a position as companion to Lord Mervin Bessborough's sickly sister, Millicent. There is nothing...