Etta Berter is a doctor's wife in 1905. Unable to have children, she and her husband have adopted a daughter, but she has always wanted more children. Julie Harris' character is the family's cook and their daughter's close companion; her granddaughter is the family's maid. When a friend of Etta's arrives for a visit, both she and the maid are attracted to him; when he seems to prefer the maid, the younger woman, Etta gets jealous. When the maid becomes pregnant by him, Etta vows to make that child her own.