When Freya's car breaks down in the middle of the Lakeland wilderness, she is rescued by a stranger who tows her back to his Gothic mansion (Grimshaw Lodge) and offers shelter. He turns out to be Dylan Quest, famous literary novelist, and despite his reputation as a womanizer, she finds herself being drawn to him. But Freya has an ulterior motive: she has been sent on a mission by the mysterious John to discover the truth about Dylan. What dark secrets lie behind the mansion's Gothic facade and Dylan's public image? Who is John? And why has Freya been sent?