With an overpowering passion for money to satisfy her love of display and pretension, Rhoda Canfield married Tom Winters with a hope that he might satisfy her ambition and meet her requirements. He is a man of some means, but not wealthy. The first outburst comes when she reads, immediately after her marriage. In the Society columns, that Tom Winters has married Rhoda Canfield, a poor girl, when it was expected that he would marry her wealthy step-sister, Cecilia. She urges her husband to make himself a greater power in the world of wealth. Mr. Mellville, a broker, who is anxious to get Winters to invest his money in a certain stock, notices this ambition and with the assistance of his wife, prompts her to insist upon her husband’s investing in Mr. Mellville’s offer. They succeed in accomplishing their purpose and Winters puts his all in the stocks. Mrs. Winters immediately purchases all sorts of finery and prepares to live in accordance with her expected means. Cecilia, sympathizes with Mr. Winters, and tries to reason with her half-sister, and tells her that her husband is doing the best he can and she is foolish to try to make him sacrifice his judgment to her ambitions. Rhoda is in the seventh heaven of delight, when her husband receives the news that his stock has slumped, and he is a ruined man. Upon her return home, she finds her husband in despair. She berates him for being such a miserable failure in business. In the parlor, she meets Cecilia, gives vent to her feelings and repeats what she has told her husband. Cecilia remonstrates with her and tells her she ought to be ashamed of herself to denounce her husband. She points out her error in such powerful words that Rhoda’s conscience is awakened, and she falls at Cecilia’s feet.