Julian Berniers and Lily Prine have just gotten married. They have been in Chicago on business before returning to their home town of New Orleans, where they will meet with Julian's older spinster sisters, Anna and Carrie, who still live in the long time unpaid for family home. Anna and Carrie, as the elder siblings, have long kept Julian afloat during his wheeling and dealings. Julian has largely kept Lily in the dark about his activities, including the mysterious meetings he has had in New Orleans in the week prior to meeting up with Anna and Carrie. Despite losing the factory in Chicago, Julian comes bearing expensive gifts for his sisters, including paying off the house and a trip for both of them to Europe, something that they have long talked about wanting to do. Because of this money, Lily believes that her wealthy mother, Albertine Prine, may have paid Julian to marry her to get rid of her. Things change for the women in Julian's life when they learn that he has been meeting Charlotte Warkins, the two who had once dated ten years ago. While Lily believes that Julian may be having an affair with married Charlotte, Carrie, through second hand means, knows exactly what is going on between Julian and Charlotte, which is nowhere close to being an affair. Carrie, in her obsessive love for Julian, which is more than the love of a sister for a brother, decides to take matters into her own hands as a means to have Julian all for herself. Sisters Carrie and Anna Berniers have been supporting their ne'er-do-well brother Julian through various failed businesses; now, he returns home with a sudden fortune and his young bride. Jealousies both old and new will play a part as the sisters try to understand what Julian's been up to, and as his wife wonders if there's another woman involved.
