After returning from her studies, Rose learns her parents have died, leaving her half their wealth and the other half to Stuart, the household servant. Despite her insistence that he no longer needs to serve her, Stuart stays and surprises her by hand-washing her lingerie and tying a napkin around her neck. When Rose finds him waiting with a towel after her shower, he confesses his desire for her. Shocked, she refuses to share her space with him but won’t give up her ownership. Stuart then proposes that if she agrees to be with him once, he’ll forfeit his claim to everything, complicating their relationship further.