Bored and broke, Morris Duckworth, an English teacher in Verona, stumbles on a plan for financial salvation - to marry Massimina, one of his lovelier students.

And if his intentions are frustrated by a suspicious, conservative family, is it any fault of his that the girl chooses to elope?

Obsessed by self-advancement and excitement, Morris's dreams of blackmail, theft and murder plunge him deep into a chilling nightmare of deception and violence.