Ellen Murray races to the train station to meet Titus Jaywood, the publisher who has come to discuss the publication of her mother Ann's short stories. At the Murray house, Jaywood meets Ellen's aunt, Connie Nevins, who is on the prowl for a new husband after her recent divorce, Ellen's father Lewis who is rushing off for a yachting trip, and Ellen's boyfriend, Douglas Hall. Jaywood is also greeted by "Granny" Whitman, who hints that she knows that he and her daughter Ann shared a youthful fling. When Ellen learns that Doug is leaving to spend two years in Belgium, she decides that they should spend a weekend together alone at the lake. Under the ruse of visiting a girlfriend, Ellen packs to leave for her weekend, but Connie guesses her deception and tells Ann. Confronted by her mother, a pioneer for women's freedom, Ellen responds by accusing Ann of not adhering to her feminist principles, and a chagrinned Ann reluctantly gives Ellen permission to go. When Ellen's father discovers that his daughter is spending the weekend with a man, however, he drives after them, followed by Connie and Jaywood. Granny then calls the police and has them all arrested. Meanwhile, at the lake, Doug sleeps alone on the porch while Ellen sleeps in the bedroom. Arriving home to her father's recriminations, Ellen threatens to leave home and Doug upbraids her family for allowing Ellen to go away with him, then storms out of the house. Granny then advises Ellen to go to Doug, and when he arrives at his boat, he finds her waiting in his cabin to marry him.