To his Victorian London friends, Stephen Lowry is a heartbroken widower. Only his housemaid Lily knows that far from dying of gastroenteritis his wife was slowly poisoned by her husband - information she is happy to use to improve her position in the household and to make sure she stays close to Stephen. As his own prospects improve with a business partnership and a romance more of his own class, Stephen decides that Lily must go. Unfortunately for him, his first attempt gives her even more of a hold over him. 　　译文(2): 在他维多利亚时代伦敦的朋友们看来，斯蒂芬 · 劳瑞是个伤心欲绝的鳏夫。只有他的女仆莉莉知道，他的妻子非但没有死于肠胃炎，反而被丈夫慢慢毒死了——她很乐意利用这些信息来提高自己在家庭中的地位，并确保自己与斯蒂芬保持亲密关系。由于他自己的前景随着商业伙伴关系和自己阶层的浪漫而改善，斯蒂芬决定莉莉必须离开。不幸的是，他的第一次尝试给了她更多的控制他。