Alva, whose family has relocated to New York City, has lunch with her best friend, Consuelo Yznaga. Consuelo comes from a “respectable,” well-established American family. Her family has sugar plantations in Cuba, worked by enslaved people. Consuelo is determined to act as matchmaker for Alva and the wealthy William K. “W.K.” Vanderbilt, heir to the vast Vanderbilt fortune.

Although there is little natural spark between Alva and William, the Vanderbilts need to marry into a good family like Alva’s to ensure their entrance into New York society. They have been shunned by families like the Astors because they made their fortune through “war profiteering and political bribery” (16). Alva is eager to get married quickly because she is 21, and she is worried that if she does not marry soon, she never will.

Alva and Consuelo see William at another table and attempt to get his attention. However, William only has eyes for the beautiful, wealthy, 14-year-old Theresa Fair.

Alva’s mother, who had died years before, had always felt that each of her daughters should be a “queen,” due to her own distant royal heritage, and had raised them accordingly. Alva was aware that she had to marry into money as soon as possible or risk her family becoming entirely destitute.

That evening, Alva prepares for the ball. She cannot afford a new dress, so instead she covers an old garnet-colored dress in fresh flowers. She feels out of place at the ball, where all the other young ladies are wearing pale colors, but the men find her appearance appealing. William asks her to join him outside. After some awkward small talk, he asks her to marry him “given [the] small array of choices that suit our situations” (33). She accepts, although she does not love him.

William takes Alva to meet his family, including his grandfather, Commodore Vanderbilt, and his father, Mr. Vanderbilt. They are very warm and friendly toward Alva. The Commodore is a self-made man “who’d begun life as a Staten Island farmer’s son” before becoming an industrial tycoon (39).

A few months later, William visits Alva to ask for her assistance. He wants her support to help his family enter New York society’s institutions, like the opera and the Union Club. She agrees to write letters on his behalf. He asks her to lunch to meet his mother, some of his sisters, and his sister-in-law, Alice. She agrees, and he kisses her. Alva is quite shocked by his forwardness.

Before the luncheon, Alva does her best to study the enormous Vanderbilt family tree. Alva goes to lunch and finds Mrs. Vanderbilt and her daughters warm and friendly. However, Alice, her future sister-in-law, is somewhat imperious and rude to Alva. Alva learns that Mrs. Vanderbilt has distant connections to the Roosevelt family, which her daughters want her to use to help their entrance into society. They discuss plans for the wedding. Mrs. Vanderbilt reveals that she bought a house for Alva and William on Fifth Avenue and 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Alva tells Mrs. Vanderbilt that she wants her housemaid’s daughter, Mary, to be her lady’s maid. They are skeptical about the propriety of Alva having a Black woman as a lady’s maid, but they relent when Alva insists.

Alva and Armide are worried about the state of their family’s finances. They have very little to live on until Alva gets married. Consuelo visits them and brings along her banjo to play for them. Alva asks Armide and Consuelo about sex and what to expect after she is married. She does not know anything about it. Armide advises Alva to act like a “plank” during the act and not act as if she is enjoying it too much.

Alva thinks about how she enjoyed masturbating when she was younger until her mother caught her in the act and beat her for acting like an “animal.”

A few days later, William visits to tell Alva that the wedding will have to be postponed because his niece, Alice, has died suddenly from a fever. Alva is somewhat relieved at the news, as she is unsure how she will afford to buy a wedding gown.

Alva’s relief over the postponement of the wedding gives way to worry as her family’s finances continue to worsen. They have almost nothing to eat, and she is losing weight. Alva goes to her father’s sickbed. He is delirious from his illness and believes she is her mother.

Alva sneaks the box of her mother’s remaining heirlooms out of the house. She has decided to pawn them for cash, with the goal of buying them back once she is married. However, there is a traffic accident in front of her carriage on the way to the pawnbrokers, and she is forced to continue on foot. While she is in the crowd, someone steals her box of heirlooms and her purse.

Upset about the theft but determined to carry on, Alva goes to the dressmaker, Mrs. Buchanan, to discuss her bridal gown. Alva is shocked when Mrs. Buchanan asks for a deposit for half the cost of the $1,200 gown. While leaving, Alva runs into Miss Roosevelt. Miss Roosevelt makes several disparaging comments about the Vanderbilts before telling Alva that her fiancé, William, had been seen boating with Miss Theresa Fair.

Unsure of what to do and in need of help, Alva goes to visit Mr. Ward McAllister, a Southern gentleman and socialite who is an institution in New York high society. She tells him her problem: She needs to help the Vanderbilts enter high society if the wedding is to go forward. McAllister tells her he will arrange to introduce William and Alva to Mrs. Caroline Astor, the most important person in New York society, at his Patriarch Ball next week. He also advises her to save money by having her mother’s wedding gown altered rather than buying a new one from Mrs. Buchanan. Finally, he gives her some money for food. She is grateful.

William and Alva attend the Patriarch Ball. Mr. McAllister attempts to introduce them to Mrs. Astor, but she ignores them. In response, Alva comments loudly about Mrs. Astor’s “failing” “hearing and sight” (98). Mr. McAllister is shocked, but William is pleased at Alva’s spirit.