 The widowed patriarch of the Dane family adopts a young girl named Larke, whose parents have been killed in a train wreck. This upsets his biological children; Selina, the eldest, and two boys, Roland and Pelham. As the years go by, however, the boys find they like their new "sister" and, as they grow older, they each find themselves in love with the high-spirited, but somewhat manipulative, girl. But each attention and accolade that Larke receives only enflames the jealousy of Selina, who feels Larke is nothing but a parasite, who has usurped Selina s rightful role of both daughter and sister and, eventually, matriarch.