"And which of these roses three is the dearest rose to me?" Wallace's mother is the faded rose, his wife the pink rose and his mistress the red rose. Wallace is newly married. His wife, as a prospective mother, loses her charm for him and he turns to a mistress. His wife has no suspicion of his deception. But his mother knows. She goes to the mistress and appeals to her to abandon her son and discourage his illicit love affair. But the mistress is cynical about such matters and the mother's sincerity bores her. An appeal for at least fair play strikes a response in the mistress and she accompanies the mother to her son's home. She allows the mistress to peep through some portieres, on the other side of which the wife is at work upon baby clothes. A strange new note, something she has never felt before, is struck in the mistress' heart. That night she calls an old admirer to her home. Wallace enters and sees her accepting the caresses of his rival in her affections. He upbraids her and leaves, but he does not see that he is guilty of the same perfidy for which he despises his mistress. Howbeit, he is cured and he returns to his wife, the pink rose.