A young governess learns that children aren't the only ones who need to be disciplined. A house in Hampstead, present day. Behind a facade of cultured respectability lies a world of decadent indulgence and dark eroticism. Cassandra's sheltered life is transformed when she becomes governess to the Baron's children. He draws her into games where lust can feed on the erotic charge of submission - games where only he knows the rules and where unusual pleasures can flourish.