Orphaned at the age of five and sent away from England to Africa, Sir James Monmouth has spent most of his life travelling, following the footsteps of his childhood hero, the explorer Conrad Vane. He returns to England one dark and rainy night with the intention of discovering more, not just about himself, but the early life of the explorer. Warned against travelling this path, Sir James becomes yet more determined to unravel the mysteries of the past - but who is the mysterious little boy who haunts his every step, and why can only he hear the chilling scream and the desperate sobbing?