The Woman in White (1948)

Plot: 1851, England. Walter Hartright has just started his employ at Limmeridge House, as drawing master to wealthy Laura Fairlie. He was hired by Laura's uncle, Frederick Fairlie, the master of the house by default being the last surviving member of his generation, the family wealth that sits specifically with Laura. Frederick suffers from a nervous condition that limits his contact not only with Walter but with anyone except his exasperated manservant, Louis. The other resident of Limmeridge House is Laura's cousin, Marian Halcombe, whose side of the family has no wealth of their own, Marian who serves as a needed and wanted companion to Laura. In first meeting Laura, Walter is struck by her uncanny resemblance to a young woman in white he encountered in his first night in town. While he was told that night that she was an escapee from an nearby insane asylum, he further learns that she probably is the girl who stayed with the Fairlies when Laura was a child, Laura who only has a vague remembrance of her. In befriending both Laura and Marian, Walter starts to fall for Laura. It isn't until after those feelings emerge that Marian tells him that Laura is already engaged to Sir Percival Glyde, the engagement which she willingly entered into despite probably not loving him. In the meantime, Walter and Marian try to find out the story behind Laura's lookalike, who has still not been recaptured, and how she ended up in the asylum in the first place. Walter believes that recent Fairlie family friend Count Alessandro Fosco knows more about what's going on than he lets on. If Walter and Marian uncover the truth, which would mean dredging up old secrets within the Fairlie family and some even within Limmeridge House, they would discover a scheme to gain unfettered access to the Fairlie wealth. The closer they do get to the truth, the greater their lives and that of Laura and her lookalike are put into danger.