Ottilie is forced to wed her cousin despite her love for Dick, the gardener's son. Dick leaves, vowing to return a wealthy man, only to find she has already married. Decades later, their grandchildren meet and fall in love.

Ottilie Van Zandt, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy colonel, loves the gardener's son, Richard Wayne, but her family forces her to marry her cousin Claude. Richard leaves before the wedding, vowing to return wealthy and marry Ottilie, but since she is already married when he does return, he impulsively marries Alice Tremaine. Years later, to save lonely widow Ottilie from being evicted, Richard purchases her house at auction and gives it to her. Two generations later, Ottilie, the granddaughter of the first Ottilie, lives in the old house and teaches dancing. Richard Wayne, grandson of the first Richard, is a wealthy young man of the jazz set who thinks of Ottilie as a little old-fashioned but has affection for her. Their friendship culminates in a romance and marriage that began years before with their grandparents.

Ottilie Van Zandt is forced to wed her cousin, despite her love for Richard Wayne, the gardener's son. Richard leaves, vowing to return a wealthy man and eligible suitor for her. He returns to find she has already married and, in turn, marries another girl on impulse. Two generations later, the grandchildren of Ottilie and Richard, who were named after them, meet and develop a close friendship that culminates in the romance that their grandparents began but could not consummate years before.—Kieran Kenney