Briefly, the story is that of a young, beautiful woman called Ivy - once compared in the narrative to George Romney's portrait of Lady Nelson, spinning - who married easy going, laid-back, idler, Jervis Laxton for his money. Now having, run through his fortune, she is terrified of the poverty-stricken days that lie ahead. Acting on an impulse, she goes to a fortune-teller who predicts that soon a stranger will enter her life bringing a lot of money. However, the fortune-teller also talks of an ominous event occurring which might blight her life forever. The choice is hers.