Normally William Hughes buys postcards and pottery cottages as souvenirs, but when he is offered a sick English girl in Poland at a price he can afford, his natural decency leads him to buy her and smuggle her out of the country. Unfortunately his plan to hand her over to the police as soon as he reaches England does not work out and he finds himself stuck with her - as the policewoman tells him, "A slave girl is for life, not just for Christmas" Still activated by decency, William finds his life changing in ways he could never have imagined as he and his souvenir set up home together.