"The chauffeur stood still for a moment, then moved his broad hand up towards the button on his tight uniform jacket. His voice was low and hypnotic."" ""'I can give you anything you want, Francesca, ' he whispered. 'And I think I know what you want.'"" "Behind an overgrown garden by the sea, a mysterious crumbling mansion harbours a tantalising secret. This fortress of grandeur is home to fading society-beauty Alicia Moffat, her inscrutable chauffeur and a remarkable collection of priceless erotica. Francesca Leeman, a young writer, is commissioned to catalogue this very private collection. She finds her new acquaintances cultured, enigmatic -- and incredibly perverse.

But in an atmosphere of perpetual stimulation, Francesca finds a strange security in their games of voyeurism, and an intensity of pleasure that she had not before experienced.