In a small New England seaport town a group that functions as a Greek chorus Seth Beckwith, Amos Ames, Louisa, and Minnie sit in front of the Mannon home. They explain that the patriarch of the family, Ezra Mannon, serves as a general in Grant's army. A wealthy man, he is expected to return soon to rejoin his wife, Christine, and his two children, Lavinia and Orin.
As the scene progresses, Peter Niles asks Lavinia for her hand in marriage, which she refuses. Lavinia discloses that she followed her mother to New York, where she was carrying on an adulterous affair with Adam Brant. Seth, the family's elderly gardener, implies to Lavinia that Adam is David Mannon's son. The Mannon family disinherited David, Ezra's uncle, after he ran off with a French-Canadian.....
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