GOTHIC MYSTERY:  Sybil Ingram is an actress who is past her prime and accepts the proposal of a wealthy American named Alcott Lammle. Sybil marries him, only to be widowed immediately and left penniless. She devises a plan to be declared the rightful owner of his first wife’s home so she will have somewhere to stay. She thinks to be a good stepmother for the surviving son, Roderick Brooke, whom she believes to be about seven years old.