Stranded by a storm at a posh country inn, Elizabeth Boynton meets Gerald Finch and his sister. Gerald is handsome, charming and wealthy enough to devote himself to the study of seventeenth century witchcraft. Just returned from a trip to England, he is in need of a secretary. Elizabeth accepts the job. The ideal position loses some of its charm when she discovers that two previous secretaries accidentally drowned. Anthropologist Bob Gottschalk, also at the inn, is alternately suspicious and suspected … trusted and feared. The mounting mood of fear and danger is developed in step with the rising fury of a storm…