This story is about a woman named Eliza Wharton. At the beginning of the book her betrothed, Rev. Haly , whom Eliza nursed during his final days in her own home dies, she is actually ok with it because the marriage was forced and she wanted to be free from marriage . After his death, she decides she wants friendship and independence and is reluctant to get married. In a short amount of time, she gets to know two men. One is named Boyer, a respected but boring clergyman, whom all of her friends and her mother approved of. The other, Sanford, has no intention to marry Eliza. However, he is determined not to let anyone else have Eliza. Because she is indecisive about who she wants to marry, and she seems to like Sanford more, Boyer eventually gives up on her, deciding that she will not make a suitable wife, mostly because he sees them in the garden together. Sanford also disappears from her life and marries another woman, Nancy, for her fortune rather than love (he still likes Eliza). Eliza, being alone comes crawling back to Boyer. However, Boyer is already married to a woman named Maria Selby. Sanford later comes back and is also married, but has an affair with Eliza. This goes on until she is overcome by guilt and does not want to face her family and friends and decides to run away. She dies during childbirth and is buried by strangers. Sanford is devastated by her death, and in a letter to his friend Charles Deighton expresses his regret at his actions.