Plot

Three wealthy orphans attempt to defend their ownership of their family's property, but financial and romantic problems set in.

Fiona, Evelyn, and Susanna are sisters. After their mother dies on the Lusitania and their father is killed in France, they must manage their Fifth Avenue mansion by themselves. Fiona marries Charles Barclay in order to get an inheritance, and he begins a campaign to obtain the mansion to level it for real-estate development; she vows that this will never happen.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

It's been 23 years since the New York City-based Gaylord sisters--Fiona, Evelyn, and Susanna--were orphaned when Fiona, the oldest, was only eight; first their mother perished with the sinking of the Lusitania, then their father was killed in battle in France in the Great War. Susanna, the innocent--she considers herself stupid--is in love with modern artist Gig Young, but is already married; she had regrets 4 hours after the ceremony and since the marriage wasn't consummated, her husband will not grant her an annulment. Middle sister Evelyn, now Lady Burton, is the impulsive, selfish one, who always gets what she wants, and now she wants Gig, as her relationship with RAF pilot Lord Burton is a rebound, and she no longer loves him despite liking the prestige that comes along with the title. Fiona is the strong, focused one; some see her determination as heartlessness. Even with Fiona being only eight at the time, their father, before he left for war, drilled into her the Gaylord traditions, including never to sell the property on which their house sits, it which now belongs to Fiona outright in being deeded to her from her grandmother. Evelyn has returned from England as the sisters are in court for the latest round in their father's still non-probated will, which has the three as the sole heirs. As a result, Fiona has had to scramble for money for the three of them to live over those years and be able to pay their legal bills. Core to the issue is that a subsequent will was processed in France, the only difference between that will and the will he wrote prior to leaving for war being that 10% has been set aside to a charity, a settlement house. While the sisters have long never quibbled about that 10%, the current twist is that a man named Charles Barclay has taken over the charity; according to Fiona, he wants to keep this issue in the courts to drain the Gaylords' financial resources so that Fiona would be forced to sell the house, which he wants to buy to develop the property. While Susanna wants the matter settled so that she and Gig can get married before Evelyn gets her claws into him, Fiona will do anything to thwart Barclay's plans; something bigger seems to be at play between the two in their mutual animosity.—Huggo