The year is 1900. In a neat little village on the sea coast of New England, Miss Susan Frush is a shy lady in her early forties. In her well-fastened hat, her white gloves, her sturdy walking shoes, she is what might be called a typical old maid. She has the appearance of once having been pretty, but this is now somewhat obscured by glasses and teeth. Her kinswoman, Miss Amy Frush, ten years her junior, is brisk, eager, comparatively bold and equally un-husbanded. Until this morning, these second cousins have never before met. Now they sit rather primly in the parlour of a roomy mansion to which they have been summoned by a Mr Willoughby, attorney at law.