Sarah Jane Fearing, the sole offspring of a father who desperately wants a male heir, has grown up in the imposing mansion of one of England's most influential banking families. At the centre of Sarah's world stands her uncle Frank, the only relative who seems to have escaped the straitjacket of ponderous respectability. Frank's rebellions afford Sarah delight and hope, until his extravagant lifestyle leads him deeper into dept and into a disastrous marriage. Frank's wedding to a coldly ambitious woman produces the family's longed-for Male scion, but the parents fall to quarrels and then to murder.