In which an eager young girl, Undine Spragg, receives an unexpected dinner invitation that stirs social hopes within her family, while her mother and their longtime acquaintance, Mrs. Heeny, gently navigate the intricacies of New York society’s delicate etiquettes. Observing from the sidelines, Mr. Spragg returns from town bearing a heavy warning, underscoring the uneasy tensions that underlie the Spraggs’ quest for belonging amid opulent yet isolating surroundings.