Every morning, John Pentland visits her and speaks with her despite her insanity. Afterward, he visits Mrs. Soames, a long-time friend of his wife's, and plays cards. His attention to the widowed Mrs. Soames is unseemly (so Aunt Cassie says), but no one can openly criticize him for it as John Pentland is the patriarch of the family. The novel is set during the early autumn. Olivia is almost 40 years old, and she increasingly feels trapped and stifled by her life. She and her husband have a loveless marriage (they have not shared rooms for years), and their son Jack is constantly ill. The novel opens as Olivia's daughter, Sybil, returns home from a boarding school in Paris. Sabine Callender and her daughter, Therese, have also returned to Durham and are spending the summer at Pentland Manor. Therese is a débutante, and is being "introduced" to Durham upper-class society. Aunt Cassie and Miss Peavey repeatedly criticize Sabine for being a flapper and for the scandal she brought down on the family. Also visiting Durham that fall is Jean, the son of a Frenchman who married an American woman and who Sybil met in Paris. Sybil is in love with Jean, and creates scandal by pursuing him relentlessly. Also newly arrived in Durham is Michael O'Hara, an Irish immigrant who has achieved wealth and political prominence in Boston. He bought Sabine's former home and is refurbishing it. Aunt Cassie and Miss Peavey are horrified by the arriviste and constantly snub him. Anson is upset by the attentions O'Hara lavishes on his wife and daughter. O'Hara soon tells Sabine that he has fallen in love with Olivia, and Olivia reciprocates. O'Hara says he is willing to sacrifice everything just to love her. Anson Pentland, meanwhile, refuses to give Olivia a divorce for fear it will ruin his career and the family's good name. Several events happen in quick succession: Jack dies, but only Olivia is there to comfort him at the end. Olivia discovers the Pentland groom is having a secret affair with someone in the house. (The reader realizes it is the nurse, Miss Egan.) The night Jack dies, Olivia runs into a momentarily-lucid Mrs. Pentland, who tells her that there is a secret in the attic which could not only destroy but also free the family. (She is quickly hushed by Miss Egan, and soon falls back into muddled