The tranquil New England farm was named after Lady Blanche, the fragile French beauty, whose dramatic story had become a legend among the Manning cousins and meant most to her namesake, Blanche, whose own beauty carried Philip Starr off his feet the moment he saw her. Mary, Blanche's cousin, was beautiful in a different way. Perhaps her loveliness was less apparent because she was too busy to be conscious of it, too concerned in being a good housekeeper for her father and a tender mother to her little brothers.

It took a man's way of breaking a woman's heart and a visit to a large city where other men made her aware of her own beauty to transform Mary from a simple girl into a fascinating woman. It took a world catastrophe and a minor catastrophe to bring her the happiness for which she longed.