In 1810, a young woman named Lavinia lived in the woods with the two women who raised her. Lavinia calls these women Aunt Daphne and Aunt Jane. However, they are not her blood relatives and are secretly a lesbian couple. While Lavinia's aunts work on their _Manual of Geography, _Lavinia writes journal entries addressed to her brother. Long ago, the rest of Lavinia's family died of yellow fever, leaving only her brother and herself. The Aunts took Lavinia in, but she needs to find out who took her brother in or where he might be.

Lavinia lusts after a neighbor named James. James sees a woman named Sophie, and Lavinia knows she will never be with James. When James comes by the aunt's cottage, he seems aware of Lavinia's feelings and, to some extent, pities her. The other man who visits the house is Frank Wells, to whom Lavinia does not feel the same attraction but whom she knows she will likely end up marrying.

One day, Mr. Wells and Lavinia are out in the aunts' garden, and Mr. Wells asks Lavinia to marry him. Lavinia thinks of her brother and longs for him to be closer to her. She tells Mr. Wells she would be honored to marry him.