Henry Kent has been looking for someone. He's in late middle age, is almost without means, living isolated on a dank houseboat. When Daisy Langrish buys a cottage not far from where he moors his boat, Henry's antennae are alerted. He gets a job looking after her cottage and tending her garden while she's away working. But there's something about Henry which arouses the suspicions of Daisy's daughter and her agent. They begin to investigate into Henry's past.