Margaret is young nurse and she starts fancying a surgeon. This man seems to possess an ability to charm everyone into loving and adoring him. The truth is that this man is not only attractive but mysterious too. He and his love life are discussed almost by everyone. For instance, every nurse at the hospital knows that his wife – Mrs. Maradick – has serious mental health problems, so she is basically imprisoned in her room. People pity both Mr. Maradick and his poor wife, for they still remember how much the woman loved her husband, how she came to visit him, and how gentle and charming her smile was.
Margaret knows this story but she is destined to learn even more. She is hired as Mrs. Maradick’s night nurse, thus the young woman is going to live under the same roof with the doctor she adores so much. Margaret’s kinswoman – the superintendent at the same hospital – believes that the girl is chosen because she has a big heart and patience of an angel. As soon as Margaret enters the house of Mr. and Mrs. Maradick, the strange things starts happening. She sees a young girl that no one else seems to notice. She sees her toys, and feels her presence, but the rest of the house seems to be oblivious.
The night Margaret meets her patient changes everything for her. She expects to see an insane woman, but what she sees makes her heart squeeze with sorrow. Mrs. Maradick tells Margaret her story that shocks the young woman. The poor woman accuses her husband – the man everyone adores at the hospital – of killing her daughter, for this is the only one way he can get to his wife’s money. No matter how shockingly it sounds, Margaret makes up her mind to protect the poor woman and do everything she can in order to prevent Mr. Maradick from sending her to the asylum. In spite of her efforts, the nurse fails. Mrs. Maradick begs her to take care of the child whilst she is away; she says that it is going to be her last journey. True to her words, she dies in the asylum.
To Margaret’s surprise, the doctor doesn’t ask the nurse to leave the house, she continues to live there, seeing a ghost child occasionally. Soon enough, the maids tell Margaret that the doctor is going to get married again to a woman he has been always in love with. What is more, he is going to destroy Mrs. Maradick’s house. Every gossip she heard about the doctor proves to be true. He did marry Mrs. Maradick for her money, and killed her daughter for the same reason. The night when the misfortune takes place Margaret notices skipping-rope near the stairs. Hurrying up to the hospital, Mr. Maradick falls and dies. Justice is restored.
