Douglas Howard's career as a small-town physician is crumbling. Enraptured by Mrs. King, the calculating wife of a wealthy but dying patient, they settle behind closed doors, determined to stave off loneliness and save his career. Equally desperate is Dr. Howard's beguiling secretary, Miss Derringer, whose own troubles become their own. What follows is a fatal scandal and an exploration of human expression, desire and manipulation all in the name of love.