Our story opens in 1850, in New York City, in the affluent neighborhood of Washington Square, where Catherine Sloper lives with her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, and his sister Lavinia. Catherine is a shy woman who lacks the social charm and beauty of her mother, who died during childbirth, but at a family party, she meets Morris Townsend, and he lavishes her with attention. Dr Sloper is suspicious, and concludes Morris is simply a fortune hunter. Is Catherine destined to be a wealthy, but lonely spinster?