Boston, Back Bay, and a very traditional still life of the Hollingsworths, Granny who is almost formidably formal, her son -- Norton -- who had married volatile Rosamond (just a ""tangled skein of impulses""), and their daughter, Laurel, who comes back from Paris when Rosamond cuts loose and leaves home. With her she brings a ring, which not only holds its remembrance for Granny of a first love, but meaning for Harlan Price, an eminently presentable young man to whom it had once belonged. And Rosamond's return home, to resume her marriage with greater seriousness, clears the way for Laurel and Harlan, establishes their future together. Chaste -- to a point of prudery.