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Summary
Millicent Rankin, a young woman navigating the treacherous social currents of an exclusive boarding school, finds herself ensnared by the siren call of affluence. Ashamed of her father's humble profession as a plumber, she meticulously crafts an elaborate facade of wealth, a pretense that culminates in an audacious invitation to her friend Beatrice Deering for a lavish vacation at her (non-existent) opulent home. Expecting a polite refusal that would conveniently preserve her carefully constructed illusion, Millicent is instead plunged into a maelstrom of mortification when Beatrice accepts. This cruel twist of fate inflicts palpable anguish upon her mother, a woman of simple dignity. Yet, fortune, in its capricious way, intervenes through the unfortunate diagnosis of scarlet fever in Millicent's sister, offering an unexpected reprieve. Millicent seizes this opportunity to escape her impending humiliation, redirecting her journey to the Deerings' sprawling country estate, her mind fixated on securing a financially advantageous marriage. There, however, the gilded cage of high society quickly reveals its tarnished interior. Millicent confronts the hollowness of its conventions and the insidious advances of Elmer Lacy, a cad secretly entangled with Beatrice's stepmother. In a pivotal act of burgeoning maturity, Millicent selflessly sacrifices her own burgeoning reputation to safeguard Mrs. Deering's, a moment of profound moral clarity. The subsequent news of her mother's illness draws her back to the very 'home' she had so desperately sought to escape, where, amidst the genuine warmth of her family and the steadfast affection of an old sweetheart, she unearths a profound and authentic happiness, far richer than any material extravagance.
Synopsis
Envious of the wealth of her classmates at the fashionable boarding school to which her parents struggled to send her, Millicent Rankin hides the fact that her father is a plumber. She invites her friend Beatrice Deering to her home, which she describes as lavish, for the vacation, but thinks that Beatrice will refuse. The embarrassment Millicent feels when she receives a wire that Beatrice is coming causes her mother pain, but when Millicent's sister becomes ill with scarlet fever, Millicent goes instead to Beatrice's country residence where she hopes to meet a rich husband. At the Deerings', Millicent is soon disappointed with society's mores. After almost succumbing to the advances of Elmer Lacy, who secretly is carrying on an affair with Beatrice's stepmother, Millicent protects Mrs. Deering's reputation by humiliating herself. When she learns that her mother is ill, Millicent rushes home and discovers happiness with her family and her old sweetheart.
