Gothic doings at the English-countryside estate of Selbury Quade--as Annette Duval (19), a now-penniless orphan, arrives, in 1861, to become the governess of the fierce and tyrannical Imogen. Though only nine, Imogen is already the spit and image of forebear Dame Margery--and will soon diabolically plot her revenge against new baby brother Nicholas, who displaces Imogene as heir to Selbury Quade. She succeeds in making everyone's life miserable, cruelly arranges her brother's ""death"" and her governess' dismissal--but, by the close, brother Nick, who has ended up in Australia (after a stint as a chimney sweep in London), will serve the aging, ever-nasty Imogene her just deserts. Wilson (Antipodes Jane, 1985) once again offers well-paced, well-plotted, melodramatic entertainment--stylishly done up.