<P>Maud Ruthyn the young naive heroine has a governess who is an enigmatic older woman a liar bully and spy who takes a dark secret with her when she leaves. Maud is then orphaned and moves in with her Uncle Silas her father's mysterious brother and a man with a scandalous - even murderous - past.</p><p> She is horrified to find her former governess appears in her life again in this Gothic Victorian psychological thriller with a touch of the occult.</P>