Sally Morton and Geoffrey Carroll, the latter a struggling artist, get married following the passing of Geoffrey's invalid first wife. Despite quickly falling in love with him, Sally never thought she would marry him when she discovered that he was already married - regardless of his vow to get a divorce - the first Mrs. Carroll's passing which changed the situation. The period of the first Mrs. Carroll's illness arguably resulted in Geoffrey's greatest works, including a portrait of her as the Angel of Death. While Sally brings a house in small town Ashton and a rough-around-the-edges housekeeper named Christine, Geoffrey brings a preteen daughter Bea into the marriage, Bea who openly welcomes Sally into the Carroll family. Their happiness begins to change when Cecily Latham commissions Geoffrey to paint her portrait, Cecily and her mother introduced to the Carrolls by London lawyer, Charles Pennington, Sally's former fiancé, who, while still in love with her, is happy that she is happy in her married life. Their meeting was not solely for the purpose of the commission as Cecily had fallen in love with Geoffrey in previously having seen him in town, he who eventually falls in love with her. In his insanity, Geoffrey starts to plot for Sally to befall the same "true" fate of the first Mrs. Carroll in both wanting to be with another woman and setting up a situation for his artistic genius to come to light.