At Allington, Lily and Bell Dale live with their widowed mother while John Eames quietly loves Lily without finding the courage to express his feelings, and when the polished London gentleman Adolphus Crosbie arrives he quickly falls in love with Lily and becomes engaged to her, but although Lily sincerely believes in their future together, Crosbie begins to worry about the financial and social sacrifices involved in marrying a woman with little fortune, while Johnny suffers from losing the woman he loves and Crosbie’s growing ambition slowly begins to outweigh his affection.
