On a frozen winter's day Mary Bicknor, the companion of a wealthy old woman, is married to groom Easter Probert, whose child she is expecting. She cries bitterly throughout the service, which has been engineered by the vicar. Easter has no wedding ring for her, he lends her a silver ring of his own and then snatches it back, taking a bus and leaving her to walk home alone, cursing her traitorous flesh. The vicar tries to tell himself he has done the right thing, so starts Mary's life of misery and horror with the brutish Probert.