Clare Bradley, the daughter of a minister, receives a letter from Jack Langdon stating that he is to return to his parents' home on the estate adjoining the rectory. Clare is overjoyed when her old playmate, now a young man, appears and together they visit favorite haunts on the old grounds and in a room dissolve into those of children and back to the adult characters of Clare and Jack. The young man fulfills the promise of his boyhood by asking the minister's daughter to marry him. She accepts him and following this a love scene in the garden is witnessed by a servant in Jack's household, who hurries to tell his mother. Mrs. Langdon wants her son to marry his cousin Dora and to prevent the growth of the love affair she disapproves of, invites Dora to visit them. Clare's father, who has watched the lovers from a window, warns the girl not to think of Jack as a possible husband. Dora soon succeeds in winning her cousin's love and Clare, guessing the truth, is miserable. When she sees her rival in Jack's arms she gives way under the strain of several weeks' unhappiness and is carried unconscious to her room, where she is confined with a serious attack of brain fever. Meanwhile, the engagement of Jack and Dora has been formally announced and Clare's father is asked to perform the marriage ceremony. The minister's daughter receives her strength sufficiently to follow the wedding party to the church and she is seen on a balcony while her father marries Jack and Dora. The intense misery she experiences is depicted in her face and by her actions and before the service has been read an uncontrollable cry attracts the attention of those below. The minister bravely continues until the pair have been pronounced man and wife and then hurries to his broken-hearted daughter, who dies in his arms.