Book First: Chapters I-II Summary

Kate Croy is a beautiful young lady whose family is in disarray. Her mother and two bothers have predeceased her; her sister Marion is a poor widow with four children, and Kate is perhaps the only family member with some promise for a future. She is visiting her father, a man who has obviously engaged in unethical or illegal activities and who is now ill. When Kate offers to move into his meager quarters in order to care for him, he becomes angry and informs her that she must remain with her wealthy Aunt Maud in order to remain a young lady of privilege and worthy of marriage to one of high stature.

Chapter two provides a bit more background on Kate and her family. She has been living with Aunt Maud since her mother's death, and...