The first story is about Mary, who is a parlour maid at number 12 Regents Park. Her days are filled with hard work and misery, made worse by Master William's advances; because he takes great pleasure in making her life a misery. To the extent that she is afraid to be alone with him. Her only solace comes in the form of her boyfriend Edward, but even he has hidden depths. As time goes by, Mary becomes weary and depressed, as there seems to be no way out for her; and with Master William trying to get her into trouble at every opportunity, will she succumb to a life of servitude, or will she find the strength to fight back?The second story looks at the life of Grace, who also works as a parlour maid for Mr and Mrs Turlington, and although the work is hard, she finds solace in the fact that Master Luther is kind to her. Sadly, the same cannot be said of Luther's sister who is unpredictable and seems to dislike Grace intensely. To the extent, that she goes out of her way to hurt her mentally and physically. Ann's behaviour towards Grace becomes even more unpleasant when the relationship between Grace and her brother becomes serious.

Racked with Jealousy, Ann is forced to declare her love for Grace.