Helen Huntingtower, twenty-five, has not seen her fiance Harry Mortimer for five years, and awaits his arrival in a rather dreamlike state of excitement and anxiety: what if he has changed, what if he is disappointed in her? He has had many new experiences in India, while she has continued her quiet life in the Rectory on the village Green - though certainly the village of Highfield is livelier than it once was, since a rich City man Mr Shipley and his family have settled at Highfield, who entertain lavishly and have a daughter Nora near Helen's age.
Finally Harry arrives, but before he and Helen can become reacquainted they are swept into a series of entertainments given by the Shipleys - at which Nora Shipley takes every opportunity to be with Harry.
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