girl to a strong woman who is confident in her own abilities. She risks her much-hoped-for engagement to Philip Ammon, to give Edith Carr every chance to marry him. Katharine Comstock has always belittled and neglected her daughter Elnora. At first, she seems a stock wicked mother, but soon proves to show a great sense of humor and a love of reading, especially the works of Mark Twain. She begins to change while Elnora changes, simply by maturing. Mrs. Comstock, always antagonistically honest, deceives Elnora about purchasing new dresses for Commencement; Elnora considers this an unforgivable betrayal, a sign of her mother's disregard and lack of love for her. That night, Elnora must find a good dress elsewhere. Mrs. Comstock attends the school ceremony, feels faint when she sees how all the other students are beautifully dressed, and begins to think about her own failings: Mrs. Comstock was dumbfounded. ... Would Elnora lead the procession in a gingham dress? Or would she be absent and her chair vacant on this great occasion? For now, Mrs. Comstock could see that it was a great occasion. ... For the first time in her life, Mrs. Comstock began to study herself as she would appear to others. Katharine Comstock undergoes, and suffers, a true change in character. Margaret Sinton turns from a sweet, timid woman into a rightful avenger when she discovers that Mrs. Comstock struck Elnora in the face; the Sintons have lost two small girls to disease, and they treat Elnora as another child, or at least as a niece. Maggie Sinton furiously tells Mrs. Comstock what Katharine has never wanted to know: that her husband, Robert Comstock, was preparing to cheat on her the night that he died. Philip Ammon has always assumed that he must marry his childhood sweetheart, Edith Carr. After meeting Elnora, he realizes that there are many forms of love, and that he has never asked what he might want in a marriage for himself. Edith Carr has always assumed that she will marry her childhood sweetheart, Philip, but she loves to tease him and make him jealous. She knows that she is much beloved by a strong man, Hart Henderson, but she enjoys jeering at his love for her. In the end, she confesses that Elnora is a stronger and more lovable woman than she herself is, and decides that she will stay with Hart.