A young woman named Chrissy visits her step-sister Queenie in Toronto. Queenie lives with her new husband, Stan Vorguilla. Mr. Vorguilla is much older than Queenie and Chrissy; he was their music teacher in high school as well as their next-door neighbor. When Mr. Vorguilla's wife became ill, Mr. Vorguilla hired Queenie to care for her. After Mrs. Vorguilla passed away, Mr. Vorguilla and Queenie ran away together. Queenie and Mr. Vorguilla's apartment in Toronto is small and sparse. One evening, Queenie throws a Christmas party and invites some of Mr. Vorguilla's new music students. The party is a success. Queenie dances with a student named Andrew. The day after the party, Mr. Vorguilla asks Queenie for a piece of the leftover Christmas cake she baked for the party. Queenie looks for the cake but cannot find it anywhere. Mr. Vorguilla grows hostile and accuses Queenie of giving the rest of the cake to Andrew. Queenie adamantly denies this, but Mr. Vorguilla refuses to speak to Queenie for days on end. Finally, Queenie admits to giving the cake to Andrew despite knowing she did not, and Mr. Vorguilla forgives her. When Chrissy stops at Queenie's P.O. Box, she finds a letter from Andrew. When she gives the letter to Queenie, Queenie is very excited and quickly hides the letter from Mr. Vorguilla. Chrissy leaves for Teacher's College, and Queenie runs away again. Nobody is sure where or with whom she went. Chrissy marries and has children. For the rest of her life, Chrissy catches glimpses of women who remind her of Queenie.