While skiing in the French Alps, a violent snowstorm forces art student Rory Howes and his friend Knut Olsen to seek refuge at the remote Abbaye St Christophe. They are offered hospitality by the beautiful and enigmatic Baroness Inez Leyresse. Rory finds himself attracted to Alex, the English au pair, while the Baroness' passion for the young artist becomes obsessive and disturbing. Conscious of this uneasy love tangle, Rory is aware of something far more sinister - the aura of evil, which surrounds the abbey and its inhabitants. Gradually, they all realise that the centuries-old curse which has dogged generations of the Leyresse family is gaining a terrifying relevance...