On the eve of the Civil War, Eden Day encounters Cabot Murray on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg. As they shelter together from a passing thunderstorm, they fall in love. The obstacles to their future are instantly obvious. Hers is one of the first families of Virginia, and he is a Yankee newspaperman. Their country is about to split apart, and they will be on opposite sides. Yet at the insistence of Tibby Day, the matriarch of the Day family who gets wind of the encounter, Cabot Murray is invited to Tibby's birthday party.