The novel opens with a letter from protagonist Eliza Wharton to her friend, Lucy Freeman. Eliza describes the pleasure she feels upon leaving her mother’s home and the independence she has subsequently gained. The recent death of her fiancé, Mr. Haly, has imposed upon her a social expectation of mourning, which is disagreeable to her carefree nature. Though she held Haly in high esteem and respected him both as a friend and for his station in life, Eliza did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. She felt trapped by the betrothal, which was brought on chiefly due to filial obedience.

Eliza goes to visit her friends, the Richmans, in Newhaven. In this new setting, she is “gradually dispelling the pleasing pensive mess which the melancholy event” of Haly’s death has cast over her (7). In a pleasant, new living situation, surrounded by friends, she is now aware of “sources of enjoyment” she “was before unconscious of possessing” (7). Though she risks being deemed coquettish by her more scrutinizing peers, she views this return to vibrancy with a youthful innocence.

Eliza and her friends are invited to spend the next day at Colonel Farington’s home.