The novel opens in the elegant New York drawing-room of Cicily Hamilton, a twenty-year-old bride who presides over a chaotic meeting of the Civitas Club, an organization ostensibly dedicated to the uplift of women and the spread of social equality. Surrounded by twelve garrulous members, including a militant British suffragette named Mrs. Flynn, a vain socialite named Mrs. Carrington, and an elderly aunt named Mrs.
Delancy, Cicily struggles to maintain order using a gavel and empty threats. The discussions quickly devolve into petty rivalries, particularly between Cicily and Helen Johnson, an older spinster who once attempted to win the affections of Cicily's husband, Charles. Beneath the comedic surface of club politics lies a deeper personal malaise.
Cicily is profoundly unhappy in her marriage of one year. While she is wealthy, beautifully dressed, and lives in a luxurious home in the East Sixties, she finds herself completely idle and emotionally neglected by Charles, who has become entirely consumed by his business interests and the brutal commercial pressures of running a box factory. Cicily views her husband's intense devotion to his work as a form of bigamy, lamenting that she is abandoned for machinery, buildings, and balance sheets. When she attempts to share in his professional worries or remind him of their wedding anniversary, Charles dismisses her concerns with patronizing affection, insisting that business is a man's domain and that women should concern themselves only with domesticity.
Driven by boredom and a desire for true partnership, Cicily attempts to bridge the gap between their worlds. She uses her private fortune to install modern amenities, a library, and a gymnasium at her husband's factory to improve the lives of the workers. However, these philanthropic efforts backfire when Charles, threatened by a powerful trust led by Mr.
Morton and Carrington, is forced to announce a ten per cent wage cut to keep the factory afloat. The workers threaten to strike, and Cicily's well-meaning attempts to intervene only alienate the employees' wives during a disastrous club meeting at her home. The strike begins, plunging Charles into a financial crisis. As Morton and Carrington attempt to squeeze him out of the market entirely, Cicily refuses to remain a passive spectator.
Using her characteristic impulsiveness and sharp wit, she orchestrates a brilliant financial counter-attack. Consulting with her uncle Jim and leveraging independent dealers led by Johnson, she fabricates a five-year contract at fifteen cents a box, effectively checkmating the trust and securing a profitable future for her husband's business. Through her audacity and refusal to be sidelined as a mere decorative wife, Cicily proves that she is an indispensable partner. The novel concludes with Charles recognizing her true worth, abandoning his plans to sell out to the trust, and renewing their marital bond on terms of genuine equality.
