After Miss Wilhelmina Radcliff’s father lost the family fortune in a poor investment decision, she finds herself banished from the fashionable set within New York society and directly into the wallflower section. Taking on work as a social secretary in order to help with family expenses, she spends her time penning out invitations to all the most sought-after events, wondering if her life will ever improve.
While languishing one evening at a ball given by one of the esteemed New York patriarchs, Wilhelmina is appalled to discover that Mr. Edgar Wanamaker, her oldest and dearest friend, and the first gentleman to offer her a marriage proposal, has shown up at the ball unexpectedly, having been absent from New York ever since she rejected his offer years before.
Unwilling to allow him to witness how far she’s fallen, she goes to great lengths to avoid him, but when Edgar finally catches up with her, she discovers that her oldest friend has matured greatly while he’s been away, and can’t help but regret her careless disregard of his marriage proposal back when she’d been fashionable.