In 1940s
Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday is called to visit a sick maid at the dilapidated Hundreds Hall. The maid confesses to faking and hopes the doctor will send her home. The Hall now belongs to Roderick Ayres, a scarred
Royal Air Force veteran severely burned in the Second World War, who is being nursed by his sister, Caroline. Dr. Faraday recalls during his childhood in 1919 visiting the house, where his beloved mother had once been a maid to the grand Ayres family. He once broke an acorn from an elaborate plaster carving, to his mother's anger, in view of young Susan, the Ayres' first daughter, known as Suki. There are intermittent noises occurring in the house, alarming Caroline, Mrs. Ayres and the maid. The servants' bells sound without anyone ringing them. A 19th century
tube communication device linking the empty nursery to the kitchen also begins to sound inexplicably. When Mrs. Ayres goes upstairs to investigate, she is suddenly locked in the nursery. Experiencing shadowy figures and strange banging noises, Mrs. Ayres, in a frantic attempt to escape, breaks the windows, cutting both arms. After the others in the household rescue her from the room, she comes to believe that Suki's ghost is always nearby. Not long afterwards, Mrs. Ayres kills herself by slashing her wrists with the glass from a broken picture frame. Roderick attends the funeral, admonishing Caroline to leave the house lest she might be the next to die. On the night of the funeral, Faraday and a reluctant Caroline make plans to marry in six weeks' time. Later, Faraday considers that the strange occurrences in the house may well be due to poltergeist activity. It is suggested that supernatural phenomena might be the product of random, unintended telekinesis, which may well be poltergeist-like activity caused by a living person (as opposed to a dead one). Caroline eventually breaks off her engagement to Dr. Faraday, insisting that she would not be happy married to him, and expressing her intention to sell Hundreds Hall. Faraday insists that she is merely exhausted and not thinking clearly. One night, Faraday has a house call that keeps him off-premises. When he finally arrives home, he learns that Caroline has fallen from the second floor to her death. At the inquest into Caroline's death, the maid reports that she awoke to hear Caroline going upstairs to investigate a strange noise in the hall. She also reports hearing Caroline cry out "You!," immediately before falling to her death. After Dr. Faraday testifies that Caroline's mind was undoubtedly "clouded," the coroner declares the death to be a suicide. The court concurs. Months later, Faraday visits the Ayres home while it is up for sale, having kept the keys which Caroline gave him. As he leaves the premises, the lifelike spectre of a young Faraday standing at the top of the staircase (where Caroline fell) solemnly watches him before backing away into the darkness. == Cast ==