Marion Draper was a rebel with just cause against the stifling conventions of her day. In the repressive times of the Victorian middle class, wives and daughters were expected to live as respectful, Papa-fearing cabbages. The Draper family - mother, father and two daughters - were no exception. With practically no education, discouraged from independent effort and rigidly separated from 'undesirable' social contacts, Marion had much to rebel against. The squashing of her natural personality led to inevitable consequences - an illicit friendship with a young man which quickly developed into a passionate love affair. Eventually her lover is revealed in his true worthless light and breaking free of him, she gets a glimpse of real freedom and emancipation - but is it an illusion?