Subtle beyond his years and inscrutably malevolent, the young Ernest Ralph Gorse hides many unsavoury ambitions beneath his carefully composed veneer.

On a summer holiday in Brighton with two fellow school-leavers, Ryan and Bell, Gorse is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but gullible Esther Downes. Realising that she and Ryan are strongly attracted to each other, he at first relishes the simple challenge of stealing her from his rival; but after the discovery that Esther possesses a reasonable sum of money, he sets in motion a plan that is ruthlessly calculated to destroy her.