Eleven year old Lee Tarleton meets almost fifteen British lad Cecil Maundrell at the San Francisco boarding house where she lives with her invalid widowed mother. Lee (named after General Robert E.) has been brought up with an awareness of her genteel Southern heritage, even though she and her mother must live frugally. Lee and Cecil become childhood friends. When Cecil and his father must return suddenly to England, Cecil and Lee promise themselves to each other. As their lives take separate paths for eight years, Lee never forgets her bond with Cecil. When they are united again, Lee is thrust into a world she could not imagine. It takes all her native courage, determination and ingenuity to hold onto her dream and succeed in her new life.