The Smokestack Magi builds wonderful things for the nobles of the court of Unden. But only the most miraculous creatures pass through his doors, until one day, when a clockwork goat knocks, claiming to be an emissary from the Smokestack Magi's rival, the Lord Magi of the Smokestack.
A young woman, married to a land owner deep in the Australian bush, finds herself often alone in the house with an inhuman companion: the machine maid of the title, formerly an entertainer on the Parisian stage. Motivated by curiosity about the mechanics of the maid, the woman tinkers, but is horrified when she discovers the extent of the maid's programming.
