Amongst the slums of Limehouse stands a new hospital, a monument to Victorian philanthropy. Marian, destitute and about to be orphaned as her father succumbs to the ravages of syphilis, is taken there by Dr Janssen. This eminent physician offers her work and a roof over her head. Employed as a seamstress, she stitches shrouds for the dead and hoods for the hangman. Her additional duties are performed in the shadowy ward of St. Carcifex which receives the recently deceased, particularly those who have hung from the gallows. Her task in this gloomy place is to watch over them and make sure the dead stay dead.