It's a cold winter's night in 1906 but nothing can dampen the high spirits of Constance Bannerman and her fellow skivvy, Nella. For tomorrow, Constance can escape her life of drudgery at Doctor Sowerby's home in Newcastle by marrying her sweetheart, the prosperous John Edington. But Constance's last night of servitude ends in terror when the doctor's dissolute son, Gerald, violently rapes her. Distraught, Constance marries John the next day with a heavy heart. She cannot tell him what has happened for his family is respectable. Or so she thinks...