Jane Kingston has traveled east to see her niece, Beatrice. She is worried about Beatrice's relationship with Harold, who does not share the same religious beliefs as Jane and Beatrice. Beatrice's father, Dr. Winthrope, sees no problem with the relationship and argues that love is more powerful than religious laws, but Jane and Beatrice insist that a disagreement about something as important as religion creates disunity and unhappiness in spite of love, and they point out that Beatrice's late mother was never completely happy in her marriage to Dr. Winthrope. Finally, Dr. Winthrope tells Harold that he can only marry Beatrice if he goes west and joins Beatrice's religion.