The old Victor Branzell has a grandson, Alf, who is in love with a clerk in a glove shop, Lilian Lind. But Lilian with her simple background doesn't get accepted in the circles where Alf belongs, and they have now reached the conclusion that they can't have a future together. Marriage is impossible. Victor summons Lilian and Alf and starts telling them his life story.
Maria is a waitress at a local restaurant when an older man propose to her. She is a bit skeptical but agrees to marry him and become the mistress of his estate Kvarngården. Maria had a son which she was forced to give away for adoption when he was born because she could not take care of him. She has keep contact with the child and posed as a kind aunt. She has not told her new husband about her son and when the years go by and no children of their own comes along the resentment and bitterness grows. When the adoptive mother of Maria's son dies she and the adoptive father agrees that the best thing for the boy is to come and stay with Maria at Kvarngården. She also hope that it will make her husband come out of his bitterness to have a young boy around. The result is unfortunately quite the opposite.
Hilda Granström runs a ladies' tailoring shop. Her husband Richard is a cellist in the Opera Orchestra. Their three daughters help out in Hilda's shop. Richard's 80-year-old mother, who once was a dancer, also lives with the family.
