Aurora Meredith, the village blacksmith's eldest daughter, is blessed with a natural singing voice. One day, Mrs. Thorndyke, a wealthy New Yorker, visits Aurora's village and upon hearing the girl sing in the church choir is so impressed with her ability that she sends her abroad to study. At the end of her third year of studies, Aurora's benefactress dies, and she is forced to accept the aid of Juliantimo, an Italian admirer. After attaining great fame as a singer, Aurora returns to America in order to escape the attentions of her Italian admirer and is awarded the starring role in a new opera. Juliantimo follows the singer, however, and on opening night positions himself in a box above the stage, shoots Aurora and then kills himself. Aurora recovers but loses her voice, and with the loss of her talents, her friends begin to desert her. Lonely, Aurora returns home where she is welcomed by her family and her childhood sweetheart Phineas Scudder. The traumatic death of Aurora's mother restores her singing voice, but, finally realizing that true love comes but once to every woman, Aurora chooses to remain in the village as Phineas' wife.