Worn out, but still alive, the idealist political prisoner, Stefos Pergamos, makes a narrow escape and finds refuge in the ramshackle hovel of the honourable seaman, Captain Nikolas, who takes him in, and on top of that, offers the stranger a job. As a result, much to the disappointment of Nikolas' beautiful dark-eyed wife, Katerina, Stefos becomes the grizzled landowner's right-hand-man; nevertheless, even though she refuses to admit it, it's not hatred that clouds her judgment, but raw and irrepressible desire. Now, Katerina is unable to escape from the net of passion, and Stefos, too, is unwilling to try. Will the handsome runaway man ever find atonement?