Beginning on a cold October night in 1854 England, in a dark passageway, the book's narrator tracks an innocent man whom he does not know and stabs him to death.

The protagonist/narrator, Edward Glyver, then takes the reader back, recounting as a confession his tale of deceit, love, and revenge.

The story moves between the foggy London streets and the enchanting country manor house Evenwood where Daunt spent his formative years, a place with which Glyver finds he has a special connection.

Edward is a precocious student, especially interested in literature and the new science of photography, but he is dismissed from Eton College after being framed for theft by his former friend, Phoebus Daunt.

During the main action of the book, Emily is nearly 30 years old and unmarried because she is secretly engaged to Phoebus Daunt, of whom her father does not approve.