Jennifer Morgan is a young painter, who has secluded herself from the world since being raped two years earlier. At a family party, she meets Chris Gallagher, who falls in love with her. She is reluctant to be intimate with him, but he convinces her to marry him, and she hopes to let go of her tragic past. Shortly after the ceremony, Chris' 17-year-old cousin Dana warns Jennifer that she will not be happy with him, but Jennifer does not listen. Because Chris has recently joined the Navy, Jennifer agrees to move with him to the seaside, where she befriends Nancy Halloran.