The protagonist of the novel is a young woman who is approximately 19 years old. The child of a convicted murderer and a common-law wife who resided in the economically impoverished area known as “The Mountain,” Charity was adopted by Lawyer Royall and his wife when she was about 5 years old. Upon the death of her adoptive mother, Charity assumed a great deal of power in the household. She refused the opportunity to attend boarding school as a young girl due to her fear that Royall, who sometimes drinks to excess, would be too lonely without her.

Upon meeting Lucius Harney, a handsome New York City architect, Charity becomes completely infatuated and immerses herself in the dreams of an unlikely relationship rather than pursuing an independent route. Harney leaves her with vague promises of marriage upon his return at an unknown date. Shortly afterward, Charity learns that she is pregnant. Appalled by an unscrupulous abortion doctor, Charity determines to return to the Mountain to raise her child alone, but she is horrified by the living conditions of the area and finds that her mother is dead. Once again, Lawyer Royall rescues her from the Mountain, this time by marriage rather than adoption.