Violet Ainslie's mother has died young so she is raised up by her grandmother. She is brought up to regard most men as fortune hunters who are only after her wealth. At 16, she meets and falls in love with Kenneth Keith but they lose contact. Kenneth writes her letters until her grandmum forbids him to and tells him that Violet has forgotten him. Violet and Kenneth each feel abandoned by the other.
Lord Norman Leigh is also wealthy. He is the son of an earl of Leigh. He has dated women like Lady Clare Montressor (Violet's older cousin), Edna Ambrose and Helen Hope. He loves Edna most but her father tells her to put Norman on a year's probation before marriage. Within the one year, Norman gets into debt through gambling and has to marry a heiress whose money will pay his debts. So he marries Violet, though his heart remains with Edna. He doesn't really love Helen. He just plays with her heart to gain access to her pupil, Edna.
Lady Burton (Kenneth's mother and a bridesmaid at Violet's mother's wedding) warns Violet to wait for a year or two before marrying Leigh. She doesn't know of the Kenneth/Violet love affair but secretly wishes they would marry.
Violet marries Leigh but faints an hour after the wedding vows. This is because she overhears his friends talking about his love for Miss Ambrose and how he has married Violet for her 2 million pounds. She is revived and later moves to her new home. Later on, she meets a strange woman (Helen Hope!) in a museum who offers to teach her embroidery. Leigh, who recognises her, tells Violet to send her away, without giving reasons. Helen later tells Leigh, "You shall marry me or die!" She is very desperate, unlike Miss Ambrose who tells Leigh to leave her (Ambrose) alone and be faithful to his wife.
Clare Montressor marries Colonel Arlington, Leigh's older cousin who may get the earldom if Leigh has no son. Violet worries herself too much about Edna (whom she hasn't met), so she takes up her uncle's name and becomes Miss Haviland. Edna Haviland becomes Violet's best friend and confidant. Violet doesn't know her as Miss Ambrose.
Helen tells Violet about Miss Haviland's real identity and tells her to leave home for a year so that her husband will miss her. Violet foolishly agrees and becomes a lodger of Dame Magery Rogers, the twin sister of Adam Moreland (Leigh's valet). She later returns home and gives birth to a son, Rupert.
Helen Hope has an accomplice in Bart Kemp, the stepson of Leigh's mother in her first marriage. They say, " Leigh's mother married his father before her first husband died. So, Leigh is a product of bigamy, an illegitimate child, and should leave the earldom to Hartington". It is later discovered that Leigh's mother remarried as a widow and that Kemp's evidence papers are forgeries. Kemp, Helen and the grave-digger of Leigh's father are arrested but Violet convinces Leigh not to prosecute them.
Kemp wants to marry Helen but she still wants Leigh. On her wedding day, she lures Leigh to meet her near the Black Pool with a forged letter bearing Edna's name. She jumps into the pool and drags Leigh in with her.
Violet thus becomes a widow after only 2 years of marriage. Edna marries Lord Alwood, whom Leigh has tried in vain to persuade to leave her with false stories. Violet marries Kenneth and becomes Mrs Keith while 6-year-old Rupert becomes a peer.
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