Eugenia, an American expatriate brought up in Europe, arrives in rural New England with her charming brother Felix, hoping to find a wealthy second husband after the collapse of her marriage to a German prince.

Their exotic, sophisticated airs cause quite a stir with their affluent, God-fearing American cousins, the Wentworths—and provoke the disapproval of their uncle, suspicious of foreign influences. To Gertrude Wentworth, struggling against her somber puritan upbringing, the arrival of the handsome Felix is especially enchanting.