Married to an older woman Edward "Teddy" Bare (Dirk Bogarde) is a little too slick in how he tends to his wife, plying her with plenty of drink and soothing her with fairy tales. When wifey Monica Bare (Mona Washbourne) calls in the family attorney to make changes to her will, Teddy believe she intends to cut up her estate to include her family and leaving him out, so he arranges for Mona to fall asleep for good. When family lawyer Phillip Mortimer (Robert Flemyng) tells Teddy that all Mona left him is the house, the sly manipulator finds himself out of funds, so he sets his sights on recently widowed barkeeper Freda Jeffries (Margaret Lockwood) who agrees to marry the young man only if they share everything pound for pound thus insuring her money is safe. Deciding he needs another wife, he sets his eyes on Charlotte Young (Kay Walsh) and begins charming her, but Freda gets involved, and Teddy realizing that Charlotte is not what she seems and in a dramatic climax the hard truth comes out.