Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville's family. Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband of hiding a dark secret in his past. She discovers that he has been using a false name, "Woodville," when his true surname is "Macallan." Eustace refuses to discuss it, leading them to curtail their honeymoon and return to London where Valeria learns that he was on trial for his first wife's murder. Valeria sets out to save their happiness by proving her husband innocent of the crime.

Wilkie Collins wrote penetratingly on the plight of women and on the social and domestic issues of his time. An instrumental event in his career was an introduction in March 1851 to Charles Dickens by a mutual friend, the painter Augustus Egg. They became lifelong friends and collaborators. In May of that year, Collins acted with Dickens in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's play Not So Bad As We Seem. Among the audience were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.