The end of the 18th Century, London. The young gambler, Lazarus, who made his fortune in gambling dens, is forced to buy a certain "item" after a bad bet. That item, a slave-girl. A girl named Leela, whose throat has been burnt, who has been robbed of her voice and her emotions, who has been trained for the sole purpose of gratifying her master's sexual desires, never to resist no matter what treatment she might endure. Not willing to throw her out on her own, Lazarus decides to take her on as a maid, while also placing her under his tutelage. While at first they struggle, not being used to being so close to someone else, they gradually come to understand one another—until the day when tragedy besets them, and tears them apart. And so, to protect this slave-girl, Lazarus stakes everything on the biggest gamble of his life.