A woman decides to leave her family home, where she has cared for her sick mother, and travel from Washington DC to California as a mail order bride. On the train west she ends up sitting next to a man also traveling to California, and as they travel, she finds herself growing fonder of him by the day. Because she is promised to another man, she feels guilty, but cannot stop the feelings of love that begin to deepen. When they arrive at the same destination the mystery deepens.