Middle-class small-town girl Edythe Ellis secretly marries to Charles Wharton, the mayor's handsome but strong-willed son, on the eve of his enlistment in World War One. Before he can get away the Armistace is signed, but Charles is reluctant to make their marriage known, not willing to arouse his snobbish parents' wrath. A speakeasy rendezvous, a few spirited Prohibition-era drinks, and the inevitable car crash send Edythe to the hospital--where her impending motherhood is discovered. His parents refuse to let Charles see Edythe, after learning she was not seriously hurt. Edythe's mother supports her daughter during her ordeal, but when baby girl Carol is born, she insists that she be sent to an orphanage and forces brokenhearted Edythe to consent to this arrangement. Carol is adopted by the kind, childless Caldwells, who bring her up to believe that she is their own. Carol celebrates her 18th birthday in blissful ignorance of her identity. At the party she meets her cousin Betty, a typical cigarette-smoking, gin-imbibing, modern young lady who goes lots of places and knows lots of things. Although Carol disapproves of Betty's conduct, the girls become close companions. Using Carol as a "front", Betty arranges clandestine meetings with her boyfriend Bruce Jefferson, whose father is the publisher of of the town's newspaper. Bruce is a problem boy whose most recent escapade has left him in toils of the law, as a result of being nabbed in a nightclub raid at which Betty was present but somehow got away. When Bruce meets Carol he falls in love with her instantly, which displeases Betty. Before long a juvenile court is involved--presided over by Edythe, Carol's biological mother.
Delinquent Parents
A woman is forced to keep her marriage and past indiscretions a secret from those she loves.
