The story is set around an elderly lady, Miss Farnaby, who lives a dull life in an old manor house.

Wanted: a young person to render general domestic assistance. According to Bert and Alice, the two surly servants who work for the formidable Miss Farnaby (Geraldine McEwan), the notice should read: "Wanted: masochist to be at the beck and call of cantankerous old trout." Fortunately, Mulberry has never met Bert or Alice. In fact, no one knows where he comes from. Out of the blue, he just turns up one day at the family mansion, without a single qualification to his name, and sweet-talks his way into the job.

Suddenly, the dull old house is not dull anymore and Miss Farnaby's life will never be the same again. But who is the mysterious man in black, and what does he want with Mulberry?