Kitty Fane (née Garstin) grows up in a socially ambitious middle-class family. From an early age, she is conscious that she is “a beauty” (20), having big dark eyes, lovely skin, and a fashionably shingled haircut, and that she ought to do well in the marriage market. She also has a charming and vivacious personality and is fond of fun and flirtation. Still, the narratorial comment that “her beauty depended a good deal on her youth” indicates that all of Kitty’s good qualities are ephemeral and will disappear with age (20). The decline in marriage proposals as she approaches the age of 25 underscores this point. Although Kitty would have preferred the world of parties and gaiety to continue, at 25 she faces the bleak prospect of choosing between a single life in her younger sister’s shadow or a world of unknowns with Walter, a man she neither understands nor loves.

Meeting Charles Townsend initially seems to be Kitty’s ticket to retaining her youth, as she embarks on a thrilling affair with him and experiences the highs of love and sexual passion as she has never known them. However, when Townsend’s loyalty fails her and she has no choice but to follow Walter to Meitan-fu, she must radically transform her values.